Electric: Part Two
by FarmingPirate
Summary: During the events of 'Electric: Part One' Garth Daniel's made a life changing decision. Was it the correct one? And will he finally correct past mistakes? Follow the story of how life has changed for both Garth and The Team two years on. Unlike most of 'Part One' this is an adult story with adult themes so keep that in mind. (Possible to read without reading Part One).
1. Chapter 1: The Change

Electric: Part Two

Chapter 1: The Change

 _ **Metropolis.**_

In the small confines of her dorm room the blonde archer lies on her bed pondering the little things in her life. What was she going to eat that night? Can she be bothered to go to the party across the way? and should she finally make a start on that assignment that has been sitting on her desk for the past two days. She let out a sigh, it's been almost a year since she finished High School and got accepted into Metropolis University, Artemis missed her superhero life but she needed normal. 'Normal' seems to be something Artemis doesn't deserve. Her entire family were notorious assassins, Her father: Sportsmaster, Her sister: Cheshire and her beloved mother: The Huntress. Even just a glint of normal would make her happy.

Artemis reached towards the necklace she wore and dangling from the small chain was a ring. It had a two small but beautiful diamonds placed in the center which would draw your eyes away from the fact that the ring was old and worn down. Her thumb began to run around one side of the ring and she remembered the good and the bad. Two years ago he left her and it still hurt like it was yesterday but she still didn't know how to feel about him, she believed that she hated him. He made her fall madly in love with him, he made her wear her heart on her sleeve when she was around him. That boy crushed her heart and left her alone in a cold bed surrounded by tears and memories, and he still had the nerve to leave an engagement ring on the bedside table. She hated him.

A knock came to her door. Artemis stood up from her bed and made her way to the entrance of her room. As she opened the door she was met with the smile from her dorm mate, Tyler, who liked to do the mail runs. Nothing really stood out in his appearance, he was just a regular University student. That's how Artemis wanted to see him anyway. Tyler showed a nervous smile and asked why Artemis had such frown on her face as he passed her an envelope. She took the envelope and apologized, closing the door behind her. The Ex-Superhero took a seat at her desk and slowly pulled the lined paper from the sleeve, on it read "Arty x". She immediately pushed the paper back into the envelope and stuffed it into the lowest draw in her desk, It took a few tries to slam the drawer shut since it was now beginning to fill up with letters from that boy.

If he was going to say anything to her then it will be to her face.

 _ **London.**_

'Who are you?'. It was a question he asked himself daily. He asked himself this at the end of every night so he didn't lose sight of who he believes he is. His belief seems to be heading over the horizon as each night he gets closer to crossing that line, becoming someone else. As the cold water turned red he searched for a cut on his hands, for a sign that the blood on his hands was his own and not someone else's. Again, no cut was found. He cupped the murky water in the palms of his hands and washed his face. As his hands reached down to turn the tap off he looked in the mirror. His hair had grown longer and more messy, His Jaw and mouth were now covered with a small beard which was one of the few things he maintained with his appearance. A feint scar around one and a half inches long ran down his right cheek, It was a battle wound he had earned from his first month back in London.

The white-haired man made his way to the rundown bathroom and leaned against the door-frame, "Most 20 year old's spend their Saturdays going out and getting smashed on cheap alcohol. But hear you are bloodied and bruised." he snickered. The 20 year old man turned to face his partner and chuckled at the statement. "Most Saturday nights in the UK you end up bloody and bruised. It wouldn't be a good night out otherwise." he sarcastically responded as the two of them made their way to the flat's entrance. They were heading back out again.

The two men had been partnered together for two years, By all rights Garth should hate this man's guts for taking him away from the love of his life but at the same time he was thankful that he was being given the chance to finally put his mothers soul to rest. The man had now become the mentor to him that Black Lightning should have been. Sure The Doctor sometimes went too far with his methods but he never crosses the line. The man has his reasons for what he does, the same way Garth does.

 _ **Metropolis.**_

With the evening progressing Artemis' dorm mates were now attempting to get her out for the night, she isn't one for peer pressure but at the same time she hates people pestering her more so she eventually gave in with roars of happiness as her name began to be chanted. The girls of the group led the way with their arms linked with Artemis as they squealed and giggled as they made their way to the the party on one of the upper floors, her face grimaced with each squeal she heard.

The group of drunken and rowdy young adults made their way through the entrance of the party and were again met with cheers as bottles of alcohol and shots of spirits were handed to the group, which were quickly consumed. The blue haired girl, Ellie, who was Artemis' closest friend at Metropolis University took her arm and led the ex-archer to a table with a barrel ready to pour. Artemis grabbed a plastic cup from the table which gave some resistance as the spilled drinks stuck it to the table. She poured two drinks and turned to give Ellie one except she was met with some guy in between the two of them. Artemis pushed him out of the way, gave her friend her drink and the two of them made there way to the makeshift dance floor, "Thanks Arty, he really wasn't my type. I could smell the fucker's aftershave as soon as I entered the room." The blue haired girl grunted.

The night progressed and the effects of her nights drinking began to take it's toll on Artemis, Her head was spinning and was ready to head home. One guy had been trying to get her attention for most of the night and she was nice enough to brush him off gently, only now this guy was just as drunk as Artemis was. He began to pester her even more as she continued to dance which really began to piss her off. She didn't have time for punks like him. She pushed him away from her, "Back off you little fucker. I've told you to leave me alone countless times tonight." she shouted. This grabbed the attention of the surrounding students and most of the guys were ready to drop this douchebag but Artemis beat them to it. He stumbled forward clearly attempting to say something offensive to Artemis when her fist connected clean to the right side of his face and with a loud thud he hit the ground. Artemis made her way back to her room.

The archer barged through her room and threw her bag against her wall, kicked her shoes off and resisted the urge to destroy the room. She couldn't even have one night with her friends without something going wrong. Something always goes wrong, and now she is going to have to put up with the story of her punching some drunken asshole that will inevitably go around campus. She fell backwards onto her bed and covered her face with her hands. She just wanted to see her old friends again.

 _ **London.**_

"So this is the place?"

"It seems that way, Garth"

"You'd think the bad guys would move away from 'inconspicuous' warehouses"

"At least it makes our job easier."

The two men exited their car which was parked on a small hill overlooking an 'Inconspicuous warehouse, which had scheduled patrols from the widespread gang known as "The Union". Garth had left his 'Supersuit' in Gotham City and instead now wore a black duffel coat with the hood reaching up over a black baseball cap, he had also covered the lower part of his face with a dark red scarf. The white haired man led the way towards the warehouse as he waved his hands and the guards began to fight each other thus drawing out their comrades to try and break the little skirmish up. Garth absorbed the energy from a nearby lamppost and redirected its flow of electricity into the skirmish, knocking out the seven guards.

The duo walked up to the doors of the warehouse and slid them open. They didn't come here to sneak about. They walked forward into the center of the warehouse and Garth looked around and saw the drug operation for himself. The two men were met with a a middle-aged mane with a gruff beard and a shit eating grin plastered on his, "I was honestly expecting you two to be dressed up in one of those costumes." he chuckled. Garth took two steps forward to make his way closer to this scumbag when he heard the sound of guns being aimed his way. Ten men had encircled Garth and his partner, "Take one more step and my lads will light you up." the cockney sounding man stated. His chair squeaked as he stood up and gave a disgusted look, "You've clearly come 'ere to send 'The Union' a message. So go ahead and send it."

Garth turned to his partner and the white haired man nodded. The surrounding goons dropped to the floor, setting off some of the weapons by accident. One of the bullets from the guns landed into the side of the man behind the desk. Garth walked over to the desk and pulled the man up from the desk and gave him a deadly stare, "Your boss. where is he?", The bearded man spat blood towards Garth. The electric boy sighed and punched the man, "I asked nicely and it's a one strike policy. Now you have to deal with The Doctor." The red-eyed devil walked towards the man and placed two fingers onto the cockney's forehead. Five minutes later he told them everything he knew. The leader of 'The Union' Is brokering a deal with the rival gangs of the London, he wanted to grow the size of his organization exponentially by encompassing them. He didn't know when or where the deal was happening but he knew where Garth could find the information. The boss' assistant. She tends to frequent a local club each Wednesday and that they could make her tell them everything. After the two had received the Intel they had wanted Garth called the police and requested an ambulance, much to The Doctor's dismay. The two made their way back to their hideout and began to plan for their next outing.


	2. Chapter 2: Dance

**Chapter 2: Dance**

 _ **Metropolis: Sunday, 11:45**_

Her head pounds with pain the morning after. Maybe she got a little too drunk last night which may have made her act on some of her emotions...especially her anger. She reached over to her bedside table to grab a hold of her phone to see who wants to annoy her this morning. The screen shows a variety of messages from her associates asking if she is okay, How her hangover is doing and some even congratulating her on her punching technique. As she went to place her phone back on the table it buzzed and another message appeared...

"You busy?"

It was from Barbara Gordon. Artemis hadn't seen her for a few months since she's unintentionally distancing herself, So she says anyway. Artemis opened the messaging app and typed her response, "Yeah...Sorry.", she then placed her phone down. A knock now came from her door.

"Go away, It's like 12pm... You know my heads hurts!" she winces when she raises her voice as it signals the pain of her headache.

Another knock comes. This time louder, as if the person on the other side is trying to piss her off. They succeeded.

"I swear to god I'm gonna..."

As she swung the door open she was met with two familiar faces. Conner Kent and Barbara Gordon. Artemis sighed, "Of course it's you..."

Barbara smiled at her old best friends sass, She missed it.

"Back to your old ways then Arty?" She said with a raised eyebrow while crossing her arms. Conner looked down the hallway unintentionally giving Artemis' neighbors his angry stare.

Artemis walked towards her bed and sat down, gesturing her friends to come in. Barbara entered the room first and scanned around the room noticing the drawer stuffed with paper and a bag with it's contents spilled all over the floor. Conner remained stood outside as stoic as ever.

"Conner you can come in you know. I doubt any of these Art or Law Students are going to pose a threat to you." Artemis chuckled. Conner nodded his head and grunted, "It's good to see you Artemis. You look well.", The ex-archer looked at him and smiled, "And you're looking as young as ever.

Conner pulled out the chair placed next to his friends desk and took a seat while Barbara finished her looked around the room and sat next to Artemis on her bed. There was a short pause of silence before Artemis asked why they were here in metropolis to which Conner responded that he was meeting with Superman and his Fiance for lunch. Barbara however had a sad and conflicted look on her face as if she wanted to say something but wasn't quite sure of it.

"That drawer. The one stuffed with letters. Are they from?..." She stammered.

"Yeah." Artemis replied as her eyes moved from her friend and to the floor.

"Have you read any of them?" Her friend questioned.

"No." She coldly answered.

"Oh Arty, you're as stubborn as ever. Why haven't you read any for god sake? There is at least 23 there. He's been gone two years. Either read them and find a way to reply to him or move on with your life." The bat snapped at the ex-archer.

Artemis clenched her fists and shot up to her feet, "I am moving on with my life aren't I? I'm here at University studying for some stupid degree that will get me nowhere, Because that's what normal people do right? I'm here wasting my weekend drunk and hangover because that is what normal people do."

Barbara regretted what she said, "Artemis, I'm sorry... I just want you to be happy."

A tear began to roll down the blonde girls face as she looked at the ground. "Get out Barbara." she mumbled.

Barbara stood up and made her way to the exit of the room, signalling Conner to follow. The redhead turned back to her friend and asked her: "If you could... Would you see him again?"

The crying girl nodded and answered yes. The redheaded beauty smiled a sorrowful smile at her friend and left the room. Conner placed his hand on Artemis' shoulder, wished her happiness and the two said goodbye.

That wasn't how she wanted a reunion to go.

 _ **Metropolis: Sunday, 13:30**_

After their brief encounter with their old teammate didn't go as well as it could have Conner decided to grab some food and drink with his friend. The two had settled on a small diner nearby to where Conner was meeting Superman (The good thing about being half Kryptonian is you can eat a hell of a lot of food).

The two talked about old times from when Barbara joined the team. In fact it wasn't long before Garth had joined, It was roughly about a 5 month gap. When the two reached the point in their tales to where Garth appears the stories they both fell silent. Garth was a good friend to the both of them. Conner formed a strong partnership with the electric boy out on the field as their powers complimented each others. Garth would stay back and use his powers while Conner would defend his partner and keep the close range attackers away from him. Barbara however was just plain and simple one of Garth's closest friends. The two looked out for each other, They would make sure they were okay after each mission, They spent time as friends outside of the cave and last of all they always had fun with the other.

"Barbara?" The clone attempted to get her attention.

The redhead stopped slurping on the straw of her empty milkshake.

"You're doing that pout you do when you're thinking too hard." He stated.

The redhead removed her elbows from the table as she leaned back into her chair and sighed.

The clone took a few of his fries and threw them into his mouth, "You still haven't found anything on him?" he lamented. Barbara sighed once more, "The only thing that gives me an inkling to his location are reports of a very small time vigilante in London."

Conner raised an eyebrow, "What did these reports say?"

"Two men are taking down a local gang. They hit and run, they either destroy the gang's products or hand them into the police. These two men don't kill however some of the criminals have been severely injured, both mentally and physically."

"How does any of that link to Garth?" he asked as he took the final swig of his milkshake.

"The criminals have electrical burns on them... Artemis has a similar one on her arm...", Barbara was now tapping one of her index fingers onto her mouth as she began to think.

Conner took out his wallet and placed down enough cash for both of their meals. "I know that look Barbara." he smiled. Batgirl now had a confident grin on her face.

"I'm going to London."

 _ **London: Tuesday, 16:34**_

Barbara arrived at Heathrow airport last night. After her brief overnight stay at a cheap hotel she made her way to the area in which the police reports talk about two vigilantes, Croyden. Barbara had to hail a fair amount of taxis before one was okay with driving her there. Croyden was a place she visited two years ago. The mission that sent the team there two years ago could not have gone worse... If it wasn't for Garth, She would be dead.

That's all in the past now, But she couldn't help but feel nervous returning to this place. This place was just as bad as Gotham but without all the costumed villains, This was real crime with real stakes.

Barbara's taxi arrived outside the council estate and sped off as soon as The redhead paid. The two 'Vigilante's' had been here recently and Batgirl wanted to find out why. She made her way through the entrance of the estate which was covered in graffiti, Gang logos, Vulgar language and even some decent art. One piece of graffiti which peaked her interest was one that was spread across the center of one of the hall walls. It read "Fuck The Union" this caught her eye due to it not being touched by any other spray-tags. As if it were a warning. She gripped onto her straps from her rucksack and made her way into the 'Center Yard'.

She did a scan of her surroundings and nothing stood out to her it just seemed like a normal rough neighborhood, Clothes were hung out to dry, people were shouting out their windows, young men were smoking and harassing whoever walked past them and the smell of drugs filled the air. Standing around watching stuff happen wasn't getting her anywhere so she thought it would be a good idea to ask around, nicely. The redheaded beauty made her way to a small group of young men who were sat on a bench smoking.

One of the men took notice of the seemingly innocent girl and stood up and walked towards her: "Well 'ello there babes, Wot's a fine piece like you doin' in these parts?" he mocked as he took another toke from his cigarette.

Barbara watched the cigarette burn in his mouth and raised her hand asking for him to pass it to her. The man obliged. She flicked it onto the ground and put it out with her foot, "Sorry about that sweetie, that shit is bad for you health."

The man raised his eyebrows in shock and his face became covered in anger as he removed his hands from his pockets and swaggered up towards the redhead, trying to make her feel small

"Who da FOCK do you think you are you dutty yankee slag?" He bellowed, His friends who laughed at her power play now began to stand up behind him. The first man now pulled a box cutter from his coat pocket.

Barbara found this extremely amusing. There are five men trying to threaten a lone girl to make them feel like they are the big dogs. Barbara giggled at them, they were clearly not going to fall for the 'cutesy girl act' or the 'I just have some questions' line but 'the fun way'? that might work.

Barbara positioned her feet and clenched her fist. She was gearing the strike the man before her. If they won't give her the information she wanted then she'll take it from them.

"I'll give you one last chance to be nice. I only have a few questions to ask you."

The man scowled and kissed his teeth, "Someone shut this bitch up, dat voice is givin' me a migraine, swear down G'."

As she was about to throw her first punch her wrist was grabbed from behind. In retaliation she swung her body around to strike the attacker behind her with a swift kick to the face. The attacker let go of her arm and blocked the strike with his two forearms and then lowered his defense and turned to the five men that were now to the left of him.

"Sorry about this lads, she's clearly in the wrong place. I'll sort her out."

The cockney sounding man had a short stare down with the five men who later retreated to the opposite side of the yard and began to play obnoxious music from their phones. Barbara was confused as to what just happened, Why is this place like the damned wilderness? It was like she just witnessed a lion scare of a pack of hyenas. She took a look at this lion, He was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, on his right forearm he had a tattoo of an Arrow with the arrowhead shaped as a lightning bolt. The man also had shaggy hair, as if it hadn't been sorted out in years and a scar was implanted on the right side of his beard.

The man turned around and walked away, "Wait! You stopped me from getting what I want, you can't just walked away" she said with a taut voice. The man turned around, "If what you wanted was to get your throat cut by a box cutter then you seriously need help." he grumbled. Barbara ran around in front of the man and crossed her arms, "I have questions and you owe me the answers that you stole."

The bearded fellow pulled his phone from his pocket to look at the time, "You have 15 minutes. Then you go." he replied.

Barbara followed the man to a run down apartment and sat her down on a stained chair, "Lovely place you have here." she joked. He didn't find it funny, "Not everyone gets to live somewhere nice."

"Right... sorry, sometimes I say something before I think." Barbara apologized.

"So, Red, you wanted to ask some questions? You've got 10 minutes now." he affirmed.

Barbara opened her bag and quickly ran through the paper that was in a folder and passed the man a photo. It was a security camera image of a man with a duffel coat on with the hood up, wearing a cap and a face mask.

"I'm searching for this man, I know he has an accomplice but I haven't been able to find an image of him." The redhead explained.

The shaggy haired man gave her a look that said 'Seriously?', "You are searching for a man with his hood up and his face covered. In London? of all places? You're better off searching for a needle in a haystack."

Barbara sighed, "This is going to take forever..."

"Why are you searching for that man anyway? Did he rob you or somethin'?"

"I think he might be a friend of mine who disappeared."

The man's eyes widened for a short amount of time, as if some gears in his head started turning, and the redhead noticed this; "Sorry miss, but I don't know anything about that man. I'd recommend asking around here but you won't find what you're looking for.", he then stood up and motioned Barbara to leave his flat. Only five minutes had passed. Barbara left empty handed, or so Garth thought.

 _ **London: Wednesday, 23:45**_

Garth and The Doctor agreed that he would go into the club alone since they doubted the bouncers would allow a man with white hair and red eyes into the club, especially since his dress sense only involved suits. So while Garth was on the hunt for the assistant his companion would hit another warehouse and disrupt some deals that 'The Union' is participating in.

Garth stood queued up outside of the club by himself. It was called 'Regret', which he found hilarious as it was both Ironic and fitting for him. He was surrounded by drunk teenagers who aimed to be as loud as possible. Garth paid attention to each person who walked past him, the ones who got into the club without lining up. Each man who was allowed through without speaking a single word was here for business, he had to remember their faces. As he made his way to the entrance and showed the bouncer his I.D he noticed a woman walk into the V.I.P section. She was beautiful and wore a small black dress with her blonde hair flowing behind her.

As he entered the club he was met with music blaring into his ear drums and felt the bass move through his body, He may as well enjoy himself while he is here. The electric man made his way to the bar, pushed his way through to an opening and ordered two Jager bombs and downed them. He wiped his mouth and made his way to the dance floor which was placed next to the V.I.P section, he had a half-baked plan. The black girl was now sat down next to the dance floor, talking to some plain looking man in a red suit and a black flat cap with two big men stood behind him. He was most likely the accountant or assistant to the big shot of the 'DRR' who were also known as 'Da Red Rydaz".

"These gangs really need to sort their names out" Garth chuckled.

The thing about having a business meeting in the middle of the club is that no one can hear you, and nobody is paying attention to you. That's what they were hoping anyway. From what Garth could hear from them other than the music was a few key words, 'Union', 'Controllaz', 'Friday', and 'Deal', Other than that he could only make out the red-suit man's terrible attempts of flirting with this woman. The deal concluded with a handshake and the clink of shot glasses. Garth continued to dance while the three men exited the V.I.P area and left out the back. The blonde haired girl stood up and ran her hands down the front of her dress removing any creases in it, She turned to see a well groomed, attractive man dressed in a white shirt and designer jeans being dragged away by a group of girls. He turned around a they made eye contact and he gave her a smile that just made her blush. He had her attention. The bearded man danced with the three girls for the next two or three songs, occasionally looking over to the girl in the black dress who was at the bar with men trying to hit on her but she kept stealing glances of Garth. After the song had finished the man left the group of girls, much to their behest, and again made his way to the bar. He stood next to her and leaned over the bar to grab the bartender's attention. Not once, did he look at the woman. He ordered his drink and made his way to a small table which was placed next to a wall, it had two seats on the opposite sides.

For the next few minutes Garth sipped on his drink and looked at his phone. Within another minute he noticed the girl in the black dress took a seat opposite him.

She looked over at Garth and shouted over the music: "Is that how you normally get a girl's attention?"

"Dancing?! yeah, that usually works!" he shouted back and placed his phone back into his pocket and took another swig of his drink.

"I can see that!", she pointed towards the three girls he had previously danced with. They were now giving the woman dirty looks. The blonde haired beauty leaned over and spoke into Garth's ear, "Why don't we go somewh-" she cut herself off when the next song came on. She grabbed Garth's hand and pulled him towards the dance floor, The bearded man chugged his drink and placed the glass onto the closest surface as he passed by it.

"Not even criminal girls can get enough of him" he thought to himself, but then again this is England. The girl dragged Garth to the center of the dance floor, _*Grab on my waist and put that body on me*_ , She wrapped her arms around him and began to grind on him. _*Come on now follow my lead*_ , She now pushed Garth away and grabbed the front of his shirt and began to pull him to the edge of dance floor. She pushed him against the wall and planted her lips onto his, forcing her tongue to fight with his. He placed his hands on her waist and pulled her in while she ran her hands around the back of his head. She broke off the battle and told him to follow her. The two made their way out of the club and stumbled inside a black car with it's own driver, Garth couldn't make out if it was a taxi or not.

Within five to ten minutes the electric man found himself being pushed through a door by the woman and thrown onto a bed. They both drunkenly undressed and the woman made her way on top of him and the night continued.


	3. Chapter 3: Reunion

_**Chapter 3: Reunion**_

 _ **London: Thursday, 03:11**_

She stood atop the ledge of the building, opposite from where her target was, with her cape draping over her body. She usually enjoyed ruining criminals nights but this man seemed different. He stopped her from doing something foolish and was there to help her when she asked for it, well, when she demanded it. The way she saw it was that if 'Barbara Gordon' can't get the answers she is looking for then it is down to 'Batgirl'. So the bat raised her grapple gun and fired it just above the apartments living room window. She repelled over the empty street and nicked at the window latch thus releasing the lock. She purposefully made the top of the window hit the bricks as she slid it open to hopefully wake him up to come and investigate. Within moments a man walked out of the bedroom in just a pair of jeans to investigate. It was her target. As he closed the door behind him he was met with an intimidating female voice: "Shaun Briar..."

The man's eyes quickly scanned the room to look for the intruder.

"You have information I need."

The man sighed, "If you're trying to intimidate me it is really not working sweetheart." The man reached towards the light switch and flicked it. Within moments his face was slammed onto the coffee table and his arm was pulled behind his back.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

The bearded man winced as she pulled on his arm, "Okay okay, The easy way it is. What do you want?"

"The two vigilante's, Where are they?" she asked as she removed the hold she had on him.

The man turned around to face her and his eyes widened in shock and his jaw dropped to the floor, "Batgirl?! What the hell are you doing here?!" he stammered as he took a few steps back to the living room window. Batgirl took a few steps towards him with the bedroom now behind her and repeated herself "The two vigilante's. Where...Are...They."

The man sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "Alright you got me. I know who you are looking for but they are long gone now. They left this area a few days ago and I have no idea where they went."

The bat clenched her fist and raised her voice, "Do you honestly expect me to believe that garbage?!" she now stomped a few step forwards: "Tell me where I ca-" A loud bang filled the room. Both Batgirl's and the bearded man's ears were ringing. The bat with the red hair felt a wetness coming from her right shoulder, she couldn't feel her right arm so she moved her left hand to investigate. She was bleeding. She collapsed onto the floor. As she led on the floor she saw a flash of red electricity fly over her body and the feint clanking sound of a gun hitting the floor. A few seconds later the man knelt down beside her telling her everything is going to be alright, "Babs it's going to okay, just focus on me." he begged. He placed one arm behind her knees and the other around her shoulders and lifted her. He kicked open the the apartment door and ran, never once slowing down.

Batgirl began to feel weak as the blood poured down her body. She raised her hand and placed it on his cheek and rubbed it with her thumb, "Garth..." she murmured.

"Yeah Babs, it's me... You've found me. Now just save your energy."

Garth carried her into the back of a black car and tore a strip of fabric from Batgirl's cape and wrapped it around her bullet wound, "Put pressure on this, it's a 10 minute drive so just hold on Barbara... please."

* * *

 _ **London: Thursday, 7:02**_

For the past four hours thoughts hadn't stop running around his head. Will the wound be long lasting? Will she hate him for what happened? What was she doing here? and now that she has found him is she going to tell the team where his is?

These thoughts came to a stop when her eyes opened and she moved herself to sit against the headboard. She looked at him and they both paused for a minute or two. Garth asked if she was okay and she answered with a mumbled "Yeah."

"I didn't know you knew how to deal with bullet wounds" she admitted.

Garth rubbed the back of his neck and gave her his signature smile, "I don't. My partner does, he was a medic in The Royal Marines.", His smile made her happy, She has been wanting to see it again for the passed two years.

The red heads face suddenly went red with embarrassment, "So which one of you bandaged me up?", Garth gave an awkward laugh and scratched one of his cheeks "Uh... That would be me."

"So did you see?"

"Yeah..."

Barbara grabbed the alarm clock that was on the bedside table and threw it at Garth.

"Hey! Sorry I saved your life!" he shouted.

"My life wouldn't need saving if you came clean in the first place!" she yelled back.

"I didn't come clean because I didn't want your life to be in danger even more than it is!"

The two young adults paused at smiles crawled upon their faces and laughter filled the room, It as just like old times. The two best friends have reunited.

"What's with the whole beard and long hair? You even have an edgy scar now." she chuckled

"Why do you think? You would have recognized me in the center yard if I didn't look like this." he laughed.

Barbara lifted the covers from her body and planted her feet onto the bedroom floor. She still had the lower part of her Batgirl costume on. Garth passed over a vest for her to cover her upper body with.

"You're going to feel awful for the next few days Babs, You've lost a lot of blood. I used the blood-pack from your utility belt and it was just enough for you to be stable."

She had trouble putting the vest over her head so Garth stood up and helped her. As soon as the vest covered her she pulled her old best friend into the tightest hug she could give and began to cry. The electric man placed his hand onto the back of her head and stroked her hair.

"I've missed you so much Garth. We all have."

"Even Arty?"

Barbara pulled back from the hug and placed her left hand on his cheek.

"She has been hurting for the passed two years Garth. She's furious at you, to be honest I think she hates you."

Garth chuckled to himself , "I thought she would.", and tears now also began to fall from his eyes.

"The hate she has for you is nothing compared for how much she loves you." she comforted her friend and wiped a tear that was falling down his cheek.

"She hasn't read any of my letters has she?" he asked in a soft voice.

"Not a single one." she

"That is so Arty." Garth replied. the two of them began to loudly laugh.

The laughing died out as the white haired man entered the room: "It's Barbara right? You seem like you're an old friend of Shaun's..." he asked as if he was trying to catch one of them out.

"She know's who I am Paul." the electric man retorted.

"Oh really?" he mockingly asked.

Barbara was confused as to what was going on. If this man was Garth's partner why did they have such and antagonistic relationship? They obviously have a lot of respect for each other but there is this weird atmosphere between the two.

The red-eyed man walked further into the room and raised his left hand for Barbara to shake, "My name is Paul Briar, I'm the one who patched up that wound of yours.", Barbara shook his hand.

Paul tilted his head and asked if it was okay to borrow Garth for a moment and Barbara said it was okay. Garth closed the door behind him and the two men walked into the living room. Paul asked if he had a successful night. The electric man spared him the details and pulled a USB stick from his pocket, he had swiped it from the girl in the black dress while she had him against the wall. The red suit man had passed the USB stick when he shook her hand. Garth had turned into quite the thief. The red-eyed man applauded his partners efforts and told him that he'll look into the files on the drive. Paul on the other hand found no information the previous night as he had to abandon his stakeout to help with the bullet wound. He asked Garth if he remembered what he was told in the 'Crime Alley' two years ago.

"Yeah, I remember. I know you won't hurt her Paul. The last thing you want is for me to go off the rails and ruin everything we have worked towards, and if that USB has all of 'The Unions' data on it then we are as close as ever to finding the man who ordered my mothers death."

The Doctor sat there and took in everything his partner said and agreed with him. As much shit as they gave each other they had built a relationship with mutual respect as the foundation. They have also grown into good friends and have saved the others life countless times.

The bedroom door opened and Barbara was now wearing a pair of Garth's jeans as well as the baggy t-shirt. Garth stood and took her hand, "I'll be back in an hour or two Paul, me and Babs are going to get something to eat."

The electric man exited the flat with his best friend.

* * *

 _ **London: 7:46**_

Garth decided on taking Barbara to the local cafe that he frequents. The cafe itself is one of the 'safe haven's' of the local area, The cafe has been running for forty years and has always had a good reputation among the people who know of it. Barbara followed Garth into the small sized building and noticed that everyone's attention was focused on the two of them.

"Mornin' Pete.", Garth politely asked to the old man who was coming out of the kitchen. The man's face lit up, "Shaun my boy! You avin' your usual?" he asked as he began to tap into the register. "Yes sir. My friend here will have the same." Garth chuckled as he put his arm around Barbara's shoulder.

The old gentlemen looked at the red head and smiled, "So Shaun's 'charm' finally worked on someone den'?" he cackled to himself. Barbara laughed at the man's joke, "It hasn't worked just yet Mr, he still has a long way to go" she added giving her friend a punch in the shoulder.

The man gave a hearty laugh, "I like this one Shaun, She's a keeper'

Garth handed over the money for the breakfast, "Does this mean you're done trying to set me up with that daughter of yours?"

"Not a chance!" he cackled once more, "I'll bring da food over to you both, dere is a table just over 'ere." he pointed to a small table with four seats on it.

Garth grabbed the two cups of tea that the owner gave him free of charge and he led Barbara to the table and both took a seat opposite the other. Barbara took a sip of the tea and mentioned how nice a man that gentlemen was.

"If it wasn't for him most people in this building would be out committing crimes. You see those kids over there? They are gonna be here all day and Hamza is going to feed them free of charge. That group of teenagers over there? they are escaping from their broken household. This place is a safe haven and all the gangs recognize that.", Barbara heard the passion in her friend's voice as he talked about the cafe. Again, she saw what she admired in him the most, He wanted to help everyone as much as he can.

Barbara sighed, "I had a whole speech lined up about how you should come back with me to Gotham but I can tell that you won't listen..."

Garth drank a bit of his tea and wiped his mouth, "I said that I'd be back when I finish what I need to do here, And after last night I am so close to finishing what was started more than ten years ago." his grip was now tightening around the cup."

Barbara raised an eyebrow, "Speaking of last night, did you and that bitch... you know?"

Her friend rubbed his forehead, "I know, I need to explain myself don't I?". The red head reached her left hand over Garth's, "You really don't need to explain yourself 'Shaun'. Artemis hasn't read your letters, You've never stopped trying to get into contact with her and you have needs the same way everyone else does."

"I take it Artemis tried to move on from me?" he simply asked.

"Yeah... Sorry.", Barbara now removed her hands.

Hamza came up to the table and placed two large plates in front of both of his patrons. "One 'Classic' for my favorite customer and One 'Classic' for Shaun" He laughed to himself, Barbara gave the lovely man a heartfelt thank you and a wink towards Garth.

"Thanks Hamza. Oh here, take this to pay for the meal of those kids who just walked in.", Garth handed the man a twenty pound note and they shook hands and Hamza gave a quick bow.

"You're really making a change around here, aren't you 'Shaun'?" his friend sincerely asked.

Garth breathed out and smiled, "I try my best Babs. You better tuck in to that Full English, or Hamza will be offended."

After their meal the two began to talk about the old team; Aqualad had no defected and joined Black Manta, M'gann and Conner broke up but are still part of the team, Wally gave up being Kid Flash and has gone to University, Robin has now become 'Nightwing' and is running the team which now has new members such as 'Beastboy', 'Wonder Girl', 'Bumblebee', 'Lagoon Boy' and the third 'Robin'. The conversation again moved on to Artemis. Garth wants to now how she is and Barbara told him about her visit the previous Sunday, About how angry she was.

"Was she wearing the ring?" he asked with a tight voice.

"She wears it around her neck. She never stops playing with it." she informed.

"I never told her but that was my mother's ring." He stated with a soft voice, His friend gave him a look of pity, "You've never talked about your mother..."

"She's the whole reason I'm here. But hearing all these stories about how the previous two years have changed my friends. Hell, I didn't even recognize you when you was sat across from me in my living room. It makes me wonder if all of this has been worth it. I broke Artemis's heart, ruined her life and now she hates my guts. I've hurt countless people who have gone down the life of crime because they have no choice with the life they live.", His eyes never once moved from the cup in his hands.

"Garth..."

"I just don't know what is the right thing to do anymore. I'm not the same person I was two years ago." Garth took a final swig of his tea.

"What a load of bullshit. You are the same amazing person that I fell in love with back then. You're kind, caring, funny, compassionate and..."

"A monster." He interjected.

"You aren't a monster you idiot."

"I'm not? Do you know how many 18 year old's I've crippled because they needed to make money for their families? do you know how many dads I've taken away from their kids because they had no choice but to make bad choices? There are no 'Heroes' or 'Villains' only people doing what they must to survive.", Garth stood up from the table, thanked Hamza as he walked past him and left the cafe.

Barbara ran after him once she had absorbed what he had just said. She ran up behind her best friend and grabbed onto his wrist. She had to force him to stop. As he turned to face her she was met with a man with a hollow look in his eyes and a face of sorrow. Two years really had changed him, would Artemis even recognize the man she fell in love with underneath all of this hurt? Barbara pulled him in to another hug, wincing at the stinging pain in her shoulder when he wrapped his arms around her.

Garth stammered into his friends ear: "Thank you Barbara. Thank you for coming to find me. You've put everything into perspective for me."

Barbara whispered back: "I'll always find you Garth..."


	4. Chapter 4: So Close

**Chapter 4: So Close**

 _ **London: Friday, 13:07**_

Garth had taken a taxi with his best friend to Heathrow airport where her private jet was waiting.

"Batman really paid for a private jet?"

Garth was gobsmacked, He always thought Batman must have been pretty rich with all of his toys and gadgets but to be able to pay for a private jet for Barbara seemed unfathomable. Garth always thought it was the billionaire's that invested into the Justice League that paid for everything.

Yesterday the two of them spent the day with each other catching up about the time they had missed together. They had two years worth of memories and stories to share and they talked about every single one of them. But today, however, it is back to business. Barbara is heading back to Gotham to get her bullet wound further treated and Garth has to prepare for tonight's events as Paul should have finished decoding the files that he had swiped.

"Did you underestimate THE Batman?" The Redhead chuckled, planting a light punch onto Garth's shoulder. Her friend smiled, "Please don't tell him that, next time he see's me he'll be even less happy."

"He's never happy anyway." she retorted.

The two were now stood at the bottom of the stairs where Barbara would board the plane, The two turned to each other and smiled at one another, "Babs... Yesterday was amazing. You don't understand how long I have waited to see one of my friends again."

Barbara gave him a sad smile, she understood exactly how he felt. Her and Artemis hadn't kept up with one another as well as they should have. Since Garth left she pushed everyone away, Dick, Megan, Wally... All of them. Garth leaving also took a toll on Barbara. He was one of the few people who truly understood her (Other than Dick Grayson), so when he left she felt like she lost one of the few people she could call a true friend.

"Same here Garthy, I've been wanting yesterday for years." She said with a compassionate smile. One of the flight attendants on the jet hailed over to Barbara to signal that the pilot was about to prep for takeoff.

"It looks like this little happy dream of ours is ending for now.", the red head mumbled.

"I suppose it is. Babs, could you do me a favor?", The electric man reached into his back pocket and pulled out an envelope, "Could you give this to Artemis? I know she won't look at it but it's something that I want her to see." he reached his hand out for his friend to take the envelope.

Barbara took the item held in his hands and smiled, "Of course I will Garth. Just don't keep her waiting any longer."

Garth gave a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his head, "I'll try not to Babs."

Barbara jumped into her best friends arms and gave him a tight squeeze, He returned the favor and wrapped his arms around her body , pulling her into a bear hug and span her around, Barbara let out a small yelp of pain and Garth realized he probably shouldn't have done that, you know, With the bullet wound and all. Once they stopped spinning he moved the hair away from her face and planted a kiss onto her forehead, "I won't be long Babs, It's up to you what to say to the others. Whether you tell them I'll be back soon is your call. Now go back to Gotham and get that wound treated to properly!", he now planted his hand onto her back and moved her up the first few steps. Barbara looked back and gave him a wave with a gleeful smile, Only there were tears flowing down her face. He better come back. She didn't want him to disappear again.

 _ **Metropolis: Friday, 17:23**_

 ***Thwip***

"Another Bulls-eye?"

 ***Thwip***

"Okay, You really need to stop firing your arrows into each other. We can't keep spending our budget on replacements" the stern voice said.

Artemis lowered her bow and removed the quiver, placing them onto one of the wooden beams that separates each lane from each other. She turned to the team captain behind her and apologized, "Sorry Captain, If you don't want me on the team then I understand.". The Captain of the Archery Club laughed to himself, "Of course I want you on the team! I have never seen anyone repeatedly shoot an arrow down the middle of it's predecessor, let alone someone doing it four times in a row."

After Barbara and Conner had left Artemis' room Tyler knocked on Artemis' door to see if she was okay. He was met with a teary eyed girl shouting at him to go away. Tyler insisted that she went with him to blow off some steam at the Archery Club. At first Artemis was shocked that Tyler had an interest in Archery but she was even more shocked to learn that he had become the Team Captain.

"Well in that case, I'll close my eyes and fire in the air, Maybe I'll hit a nine for once", she smirked giving Tyler a wink as she grabbed her rucksack from the ground, slinging it round her shoulder, "Anyway I'll see you at the dorm, I guess."

"Yeah Artemis, See you tonight." he happily replied.

 _ **London: Saturday, 18:20**_

Garth was led in his bed staring at his ceiling as music blared from his cheap speakers. He was day dreaming once again. He smiled as he remembered what she called him when she first spoke to him, "Daydreamer...", His heart melted every time she said it to him. His mind was beginning to wander, since Barbara had found him he has began to remember the moments he spent with his old team. The past two years he had locked these memories away so that he wouldn't want to return, He had to see through what he was doing here in London. For both their sake, and his. He remembered the first time he met his seven new friends, They were all lined up behind Batman ready to introduce themselves and they all showed their personality within a few words (Conner especially). It was also the day that he found out Artemis was a superhero, She trusted him with her identity right away. Garth later found out it was because she was sick to death of lies. Carrying on with his train of thoughts with the whole secret identity shtick he remembered how he found out Barbara was Batgirl, He was sure she enjoyed the sight of him falling over the couch more than he enjoyed actually doing it.

He shared so many moments with those people, He just wanted to go back to them. He just had one final mission to go on if the data proved worthwhile, and it did.

The white-haired man burst through the door interrupting Garth's trance, "I've found him! I've fucking found him!" he cheered. This is the first time Garth has ever witnessed a hint of joy in this man's voice.

"Where? Where is he?" Garth said with a calm voice.

"Well, let me clarify. I have found out where 'The Union' is brokering the deal. The Boss will be there, as well as every gang leader from the South side of London is going to be there.", Paul said with irritation in his voice.

"How in the hell are we going to get around that?" The electric man chimed in.

"I have a few ideas, but they aren't pretty ones." The Doctor sneered.

"No killing. We do this clean and hope we don't start a gang war. We need to hit the Boss on his way to the meeting, that way we get what we want and delay the meeting long enough for the cops to do their job.", Garth began pacing around his room as he explained his plan while Paul scanned through the data adding on to the plan with what he had learned. They know the Boss' route, what car he is driving and how many men he has with him. Three cars with four armed men in each, They have dealt with worse.

Garth opened his wardrobe and grabbed his duffel-coat, his cap and a white scarf to cover his face with. He donned his vigilante attire and walked into his bathroom to look at the mirror. "Who am I?"

 _ **London: Saturday, 21:39**_

Garth and Paul sat in their car, preparing for the three car convoy to pass. They both sat silently. Paul had his right hand hanging out of the car, cigarette between his fingers, it was one of his pre-mission rituals to have a smoke. Garth however couldn't stop playing with 50p coin he found in his pocket, he was nervous. This is could be his final mission. One more and he was done. He won't fail tonight.

Paul flicked the cigarette butt from his hand and started the engine, "Pull your scarf up, I sense them coming. E.T.A: One minute." he informed his partner. Garth raised his coat's hood up over his head and pulled his scarf up to cover his lower face and tightened it. Garth sat forward and turned the knob on the cars radio, static appeared and then a song appeared. Paul nodded to Garth and smiled, "Good choice..."

 _*Lord Almighty, I feel my temperature rising_ *****

The three cars sped past the car and The Doctor revved the engine and chased them. Within moments two men from the back car poked their hands out of the window and shot at the two vigilantes.

 _*My brain is flaming, I don't know which way to go*_

Garth raised his left hand out the window and absorbed the energy from a nearby street lamp and shocked the tires of the left side of the vehicle. The back car span out and crashed into the wall of someones front yard. They'll be okay he noted to himself. The Doctor now increased the speed of the car since the back of the convoy was smart enough to slow down and block their car.

 _*You light my morning sky,With burning love*_

The middle of the convoy was where they expecting their target to be. The Doctor slammed his foot onto the gas pedal and rammed the back of the car. There were three people in the back of that car and the middle one was ducking down while the thugs on the side lit up the front of The Duo's car with bullets. Garth was able to create an energy shield and place it onto the windscreen, destroying every bullet that tries to penetrate it.

"Good job Garth!" The Doctor shouted as he raised his head up from behind the steering wheel.

The cars were now coming up to a long empty country road, they were getting closer to the meeting point. They needed to stop them now.

The front car pulled back from its position and moved down to the left side of the Garth's vehicle and attempting to riddle their car with bullets, making Garth throw up another energy shield.

 _*I just might turn into smoke, But I feel fine*_

Maintaining the two energy shields while they were repeatedly pounded with bullets was making Garth give it everything he has. If he goes further he'll over do to the point where he might forget what he does and hurt someone.

"Doctor! you need to do something!" he yelled as he struggled with his focus.

"I'll sort this scum out then." he grinned.

 _*It's coming closer, The flames are reaching my body*_

The Doctor raised his left hand and shaped it like a gun. He pointed it to the driver of the car beside Garth and moved his thumb downwards towards his finger. The man who was sat behind the driver (and who was the one shooting at the energy shield) turned his weapon to the man in front of him and fired his weapon. The car span out and rolled over, completely totaling the vehicle and anyone in it.

 _*It's hard to breath, And my chest is a-heaving*_

"I said no killing!" Garth screamed with anger.

"I didn't kill the driver. His friend did." The Doctor sneered. "Now hurry up and deal with the car in front."

Garth was filled with anger. Once the two men shooting from the front reloaded their weapons Garth climbed onto the roof of the car and again absorbed energy from the passing streetlights. With the clap of his hands the car flipped over onto its roof and it skidded to a halt.

 _*Lord have mercy, I'm burning a hole where I lay*_

The Doctor pulled up beside the flipped car, turned the radio off and stepped out of the vehicle. Garth jumped down from the roof and gave his partner an evil look and The Doctor returned it with a smirk.

Garth headed over to the flipped car and was met with the thug in the passenger seat trying to crawl out from the car, Garth kicked the man in the side of his face knocking him out. He then bent down and looked into the car, he saw that the driver was unconscious so he stood up to look into the back of the car. The car door flung open striking Garth in the face as a muscular, middle aged, balding man crawled out from the exit.

The man spat out blood from his mouth, "D'you little... fucking pricks... have any idea... who the fuck you're messing with!?" He screamed as blood, again, spluttered from his mouth.

"Yes, I do. I'm messing with a thief. A liar. A monster. A murderer. An evil, worthless sack of shit." Garth kicked the side of the man's right leg, breaking his kneecap. The man cried out in pain and swung his fist in Garth's direction. The electric man took a step back and kicked him in the face, making the man fall onto his back.

"Enough." The Doctor commanded.

Garth ignored his partner and walked over to to man on his back.

"Who... are you?", The man cried out in anger.

"I'm the son of the woman you sentenced to death.", Garth opened the palm of his right hand and placed it onto the mans chest. Releasing a shock of lightning.

"I'm 'Indra' Bitch."

 **Authors Note: The song is "Burning Love" by Elvis Presley.**


	5. Chapter 5: Photo Frame

**Chapter 5: Photo Frame**

 _ **London: Sunday, 05:00**_

"How long is he going to be like that?"

"You're 'The Doctor', you tell me."

"Maybe you shouldn't have shocked the mans vital organs."

"I was angry."

"We both were. But you over did it."

"Coming from the man who killed someone last night."

"If this piece of shit doesn't come out of this coma then you might as well be in the same boat as me."

Last night Garth and Paul Briar assaulted the convoy of the man who lead 'The Union', a gang who rules the local area. Garth broke the man's leg and put him in a coma by charging his body with electricity, despite the short hiccup Garth's plans to return to Gotham were in sight.

"You're being awfully calm about this Doc'" Garth grumbled.

The white-haired man smiled: "Of course I am. We have what we've been looking for. The man who ordered your mother's murder."

Garth raised one of his eyebrows, "As well as the man who murdered your family."

The Doctor's smile faded and his face sunk, he remembered hearing the news from his higher-ups that his family had been killed, and that he was being sent back to the U.K.

The two were held up in an abandoned building. Paul walked over to the man led on the couch and looked at him with a satisfied grin. He looked over to his partner and motioned for him to pass him the burner phone. The white-haired man dialed 999 and asked for the Police. He informed the Emergency Services of the location of which the gang leader was at and that he was in a coma, in need of treatment. He also informed them that there will be a USB drive in his right pocket with all the records of the gang's transactions and operations. It was enough evidence to lock the man away for good.

Garth felt strange about the whole situation. Two years of hunting one man down has come to this, The only thing he has to do now is wait for the Police to arrive and send him to jail where justice will be served.

"Paul. His name. What is it?" Garth sneered.

Paul wiped down the burner phone with a cloth and placed it onto the table. "His name? As far as I know it's 'Lee Bridge'. It took me some digging but that's what I got." The Doctor answered.

"Lee Bridge. Two years of pain and all I've gained is a name, a face and a sense of satisfaction." Garth grumbled.

Paul walked over to his partner. "Garth, Let's go. The cops will be here any minute."

The two walked away from the unconscious monster that was led on a filthy and ripped apart couch and exited the run down building. Three minutes later they saw flashing lights speed down to the road behind them and they both smiled and started to laugh. They had finally done it. Garth had finally got the Justice his mother deserved. He planned on following the court case online as there is no doubt about it that this is one of the biggest arrests in the last decade.

 _ **London: Sunday, 09:08**_

The bell chimed as the door opened and shut behind the two men.

"Pete Hamza. The man who cooks the finest breakfast in all the land!" Garth cheered.

The old man's face lit up, "Why are you zo 'appy Shaun?"

Garth laughed to himself, "Are you kidding me? Look at the news? The Union's leader has been arrested. This area might have a chance to recover!"

Hamza's released the biggest smile of his life and began to dance around behind the counter, "I haven't been dis 'appy in years!" the man beamed.

Paul released a chuckle to himself and the happy man turned to him. "Ahh Paul! I have not seen yourself in a few weekz" he exclaimed. Paul reached his hand out for Hamza to shake, "I've been busy I'm afraid."

The two men shook hands and Hamza whispered over to the two of them, "Brekky iz free of charge for you's two.", The three men nodded in agreement and Paul and Garth made their way to an open table.

The two sat down and Garth had a huge smile plastered across his face, Making even Paul smile. It was sinking in for both of them that they have completed their mission. Paul congratulated Garth on a mission well done and the two talked about their time together. Despite Paul giving Garth little to no choice but to join him on his crusade the two had become quite the efficient team. Despite their disagreements they both had earned each others respect and friendship. Garth asked Paul what it was he was going to do now. Paul replied that he was planning on following the court case as close as possible to make sure that Lee Bridge goes down and then he plans on travelling the world and see the sites it has to offer. The partner admitted that does sounds like a good idea. Paul asked what Garth's plans were but he could guess what they was anyway. The two ate their breakfast once it was brought to them. Garth thanked Hamza for everything he has done for him and the community and gave him a hug. The two vigilantes left the cafe and parted ways, They both knew that they'd come across each other again some day. So what was the point of saying goodbye?

 _ **Metropolis: Sunday, 12:27**_

Artemis handed in her overdue assignments to her lecturer and after being told that if it happens again she'll be kicked off the course she decided she was in dire need of punching something. Since she had given up her life of heroism she had to settle for one of the punching bags at the gym. She repeatedly struck the target in front of her with a flurry of punches and kicks. She frequented the gym enough for the other attendees to realize when she was angry, the signal being her removing the bag from its hinges and an annoyed "Sorry" coming from her lips.

As Artemis continued to target what was in front of her she heard footsteps behind her which soon came to a halt. Someone was stood behind her watching her. Artemis landed one swift and deadly kick to the side of the bag and regained her breath. She reached down to grab her small towel and bottle of water, she wiped her face and took a swig of water, then turned around to the person behind her.

She noticed the long red hair flowing from the watcher's head, It was Barbara Gordon.

'Great, she must be back for round 2 of judging my life.' she thought to herself.

The redhead had a tear falling from her eyes and Artemis, for the life of her, couldn't figure out why. She began to walk over to her friend but before she could get to her Barbara charged at Artemis and gave her a hug.

"Barbara? What the hell is the matter with you?" The archer questioned.

Barbara pulled away from the hug and winced at the pain in her shoulder, she planted her hands on her friends shoulders, "Lets get something to eat, I'm starving." she smiled.

Artemis gave a very confused look, Barbara was acting really strange. Were they not arguing the other day? Surely she should be mad at her. Artemis motioned her friend to follow her, "Sure. After that workout I need a feast" she chuckled.

Artemis led her friend to the local student bar on campus which served both food and drinks. The two took a seat at the bar and ordered their food. Artemis planted her right elbow onto the bar and put her fist to her cheeks, looking at Barbara quizzingly.

"Alright, Tell me what's going on." she sternly instructed.

Barbara reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a brown envelope and passed it towards Artemis, "Here."

Artemis reached over and grabbed the envelope with her left hand and scanned the front of it to see who's hand writing it was. With all the letter's he sent she knew it was from him, He joined the 'r' and the 't' together in a weird way. She casually placed the envelope onto the bar counter and simply stated, "Nope."

Barbara now had an annoyed look on her face, "This one isn't a letter Artemis. Open it and find out. You said you wanted him to speak to you face to face, what harm will this do?"

Barbara slid the envelope from the bar and handed it to her friend once more. Her friend took it from her hands and mumbled to herself, She began to open the envelope and started to pull the contents from it's packaging. It was a photo. Artemis barely pulled it out a quarter of the way before tears started running down her face.

"What is the picture of?" Barbara asked as she put her hand on Artemis' arm.

Artemis didn't reply, she had her hand over her mouth with tears falling into her lap.

At this point the bartender awkwardly and quietly place the food onto the counter where they sat.

Barbara thanked the waiter and pulled Artemis a hug. About a minute or so later Artemis pulled away from the hug and showed Barbara the photo. It was a picture of both Garth and Artemis after dancing together at the prom they attended. That night ,after Garth and Artemis opened up to each other, he asked her to take a picture of the two of them. Artemis took a selfie of the two together, she had the brightest smile on her face and beside her was the boy she loved, admiring her inches away from her face. This was the first time she saw this photo, It was taken on Garth's phone the night before he disappeared.

Artemis wiped her eyes and asked her friend how she came across this picture. Her friend had a hint of worry on her face, "I found him Artemis..." she replied with a brittle voice.

"Wha... How?!" she blurted

"For the past two years I was hunting leads on him and a few days before I came to visit you with Conner I had a report of a vigilante with electric based powers. You can thank Conner for actually getting me to investigate further.", Barbara now reached onto her plate and took a bite from her burger.

Artemis' expression flowed with nearly every emotion possible: Happiness, Confusion, Fear, Joy... Anger.

"Why didn't you tell me you found him back then?!" she whispered angrily, not wanting to cause a scene.

"Because I didn't know it was him, He could have been any two-bit meta thinking he can become a superhero." she calmly answered back. Artemis breathed out to remove her misplaced anger, "Tell me everything you know, I want to know how he is."

Barbara sighed, "He's not in a good place Artemis. He has spent two years in a crime infested neighborhood and it has really worn him down. I didn't even recognize him, The only reason I did was because he saved my life. If he didn't use his powers I'm pretty sure he would never have revealed who he really was to me..."

"That explains why you have been carrying your right arm differently. Your arm is all wrapped up underneath your clothes isn't it?", Artemis said matter of factly. Barbara nodded to what Artemis had said.

"I thought you'd want to know more about how Garth is doing. Not about why my right side is bandaged."

Artemis still left her plate of food untouched, "To be quite honest Barbara, I have no idea how I'm supposed to process the fact that somebody I loved, who did the vanishing act on me for two years has now been found. Not only that but he wouldn't even reveal himself to his best friend until his hand was forced, That isn't the Garth I know. The Garth I know would do anything and everything for his friends..." Artemis' voice trailed off towards the end.

"You haven't even asked where he is Artemis..." Her friends voice was filled with concern.

"I don't want to know Barbara. Don't get me wrong, seeing that picture helped me release all that anger, hurt and frustration that has built up inside me the past couple of years. I even thought Garth might be face-down in the gutter at one point, But to find out he is out there and alive, choosing to not come back to me... It hurts... I don't think I'm brave enough to go to him." Her voice began to croak.

Barbara understood where Artemis was coming from. The whole situation between Artemis and Garth, to put it simply, was fucked. It's way too complicated for anyone on the team to the point where Garth is very rarely brought up nowadays, it's like there was a sense of betrayal they all felt when he left.

Barbara looked her friend in the eyes and told her that Garth promised he will be back soon, that he wouldn't keep her waiting any longer than he needed to. Artemis didn't know how she felt about that promise, how long was "Soon" she wondered.

"Now come on Arty let's get this food down us before it gets any colder." Barbara remarked.

 _ **Metropolis: Thursday,17:35**_

Artemis sat at her desk reading through the notes she had made during her lecture that day. After she had finished reading that last paragraph she took a sip of coffee from her mug and leaned back into her chair. She looked over to the right of her laptop's screen and picked up the photo frame next to it, in it was the picture Garth had sent her. As her eyes looked over the picture she still didn't know how she felt when looking at it, happiness, sadness, joy, regret. At this point they were all mixed into one.

It had been four days since Barbara came to visit her again to share the news about Garth and the only thing Artemis can think about now is how long "Soon" is. Her train of thought was broken when she heard a light knock coming from her door. She was hesitant to answer it, what if it is Garth? How should she react? How will she react?

Artemis stood up and made her way to the door and slowly opened it, peaking her eyes through the ever growing entrance. She gave a sigh of relief, it was just Tyler.

Tyler smiled at the blonde woman opposite him and leaned against the door frame, "Hey Artemis, A few of us in the hall have ordered some pizza since someone left the freezer open and ruined our food. I just came round to see if you want some of these heavenly beauties" He grinned as he held up a plate with three slices of pepperoni pizza on it.

"I appreciate the gesture Tyler but I'm not one for handouts..." she politely declined.

"Oh come on Artemis, it's only a few slices. Take it or you're off the team." he jested with a wink. Artemis sarcastically replied, "If you insist Mr Team Captain." and took the plate from his hands, taking a bite of the pizza as she closed the door.

The Archer took a seat at her desk once more and chowed down on the free pizza, mentally noting to herself that she'll have to burn it off at the gym tomorrow.

As she finished off the last slice she licked her fingers and washed her hands in her personal washroom. As she exited her washroom she heard another light knock coming from the other side of the door, Artemis let out a sigh "What does he want now?"

She walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hi Arty..."

"You've got to be fucking joking."


	6. Chapter 6: I Can't Say I Love You

**Chapter 6: I Can't Say I love You**

 _ **Metropolis: Thursday,17:43**_

"Hi Arty..."

"You've got to be fucking joking.", She grumbled, "Now I have 'Jon Snow' lookalikes knocking on my door. I'm not interested in joining your fanclub." Artemis moved to close the door but just before she could do so the man put his foot before the door, wedging it open.

Artemis' frowned at the man, "You need to move your foot. Right now." she warned.

"Artemis. It's me... Garth." he mumbled as he gave the blonde girl a worried and shy look. Her heart sank, There is no way that this man is Garth, he's taller, has long hair, a beard and a scar running down the his right cheek. This had to be someone else.

"I don't think so." Artemis coldly replied as she tried to close the door onto Garth's foot.

"Artemis... Please. Just give me a few minutes, if you don't want to see me after that I understand." he begged. She stopped pushing against the door and took a few steps back, turned away from Garth and wiped her eyes, "Explain." she demanded.

Garth slowly stepped into her room and closed the door behind him, "What do you want to know?" he asked. Artemis' face dropped. She couldn't believe what she had just heard, 'What do you want to know?', how dare he. She took a step forward and with a resounding clap she struck him across the face with an open palm.

"What do I want to know?! How about why you left? The real reason. How about why you didn't tell me you was leaving. How about why you thought it was okay to tell my best friend about your plans behind my back. How about why you thought it was okay to take me to Prom, promise me the world and finally tell me that you love me. You let me take you back to my apartment and..." Artemis was growing more and more furious at the stranger stood before her.

"Did it make you feel happy that you had the opportunity to fuck me before you left me?You know how hard it is for me to open up to people, Well I hope you got your fucking fill of of abusing my trust." Artemis was now bellowing at the gobsmacked man.

"Artemis... I... You don't under-" Garth stammered, trying to form his words.

"I don't understand? I don't understand?! You're right! I don't fucking understand! But more importantly, You don't understand! So let me enlighten you. This ring around my neck? I never put it on my finger. Not once. If you thought I'd wait for you then you have another thing coming. Sure, my heart broke every time I thought about you but I tried to move on with my life as much as I could. Look! I'm here at Metropolis University! surrounded by caring people, Hell, I'm even pretty sure my neighbor has taken a liking to me. Maybe I'll let him take me out on a date! I hope I have a great time and it crushes your miserable, shriveled little heart." Artemis' voice began to break down, a waterfall of tears were now flowing from her eyes. Before Garth had a chance to speak she slapped him round the face one more time and forcefully removed him from her room. Once the bearded stranger was out of her sight she crashed on to the floor and balled her eyes out, she finally released two years worth of pent up rage.

Garth raised himself from the floor to see a group of people stood around the entrance of Artemis' room. As he stood up he moved his jaw about and rubbed the side of his face, Artemis still had a mighty strong slap on her.

"What was that about?", a blue haired girl asked with concern.

Garth found the question extremely irritating, "None of your damned business." he growled.

"Don't speak to her like that, Why was Artemis shouting at you in there?", It was Tyler who spoke this time, who was now squaring up to Garth.

"Oh look, A white knight! Do yourself a favor buddy. Remove yourself from my face. Right now.", Garth warned the man in front of him. Tyler smirked at Garth's request and pushed Garth, forcing the electric man to take half a step back.

"Did you honestly think that you could come into this hall and have a screaming match with Artemis and expect us to let that go?" he taunted.

He pushed Garth one more time.

Garth was in no mood for someone trying to prove themselves in front of others so he positioned his feet and struck the try-hard across his jaw. A thud was heard as he hit the ground and Garth pushed his way through the group of people behind the unconscious man, exiting the building.

 _ **Metropolis: Thursday,19:19**_

Artemis awoke from crying herself to sleep, she winced at the pain of her newly formed headache. She opened one of the drawers beside her bed and grabbed a painkiller and washed it down her throat with a glass of water. She reached into her pocket and took out her phone and opened the contact list. Artemis pressed Barbara's name and the phone began to connect the call.

A familiar voice answered the phone "Hey Artemis."

"Dick? Why are you answering Barbara's phone?" She asked with intrigue.

"We've just finished training with Batman and Barbara is just finishing up in the shower, Yes Tim I'll tell her. Artemis, Tim says hello", Artemis felt strange. This is the first time in months that she has spoke to Dick Grayson and he's acting like they only spoke last week. 'That's just the kind of guy he is', she thought to herself.

"Oh, well tell her to give me a call back then. also hey Tim!" she mumbled and a smile appearing as she addressed Tim.

"Artemis, what's wrong? You've been crying haven't you?", The ex-boy wonder questioned.

"What is with the 'Batfamily' and always knowing when something is wrong?" she pointed out with frustration.

"Are you going to tell me or are you going to make me guess?" He joked.

Artemis sighed down the phone and explained what had happened earlier, about how Garth had showed up as if nothing happened, she also explained how she may or may not have went off the rails a bit with her throwing him out of her room.

"Geez Artemis, I can't even imagine what you're going through..." He said with a concerned voice. Dick spoke again, "If you want my advice, it would be to go out and find him. You've said what you needed to say so why don't you give him a chance to explain himself."

"You're too forgiving for your own good, Grayson." she grunted.

Dick let out a small chuckle down the phone, "I know, it's part of my charm. Anyway, go out and find him. I'll let Babs know that you called." he advised with warmth in his voice.

"Okay Grayson, I'll speak to you again soon. I promise..."

"I look forward to it!"

The two said their goodbyes and ended the conversation. Artemis lifted herself from her bed, walked over to her door, put on her shoes, grabbed her coat and exited the room in search of Garth.

 _ **Metropolis: Thursday, 8:50**_

Garth sat on a park bench in the rain as he ate away a sandwich he bought from the nearby convenience store. He sat there watching the people of Metropolis walk past him, moving forward in their lives, to their next destination. He was unlike the people of Metropolis. He was unable to move forward, not when his past was weighing on his shoulders like a ton of bricks. Only this time the 'past' was no longer about his mother's murder. It was about Artemis, Barbara, The team, He never actually thought about what he would do if they rejected him.

His mind began to wander, he was thinking about everything Artemis had said. What was he thinking when he said, "What do you want to know?" how stupid can you be? He waited years to see her face again and he fucked it up. His thoughts began to grow deeper making the streetlamp above him flicker.

A husky voice spoke out to him as he sat there, "You know you still furrow your brow when you're frustrated, right?"

Garth took the final bite of his sandwich and continued to look at the floor, "I think I got the message Artemis. You want nothing to do with me." he snapped.

"Garth, I'm sorry... Some of the things I said were horrendous..." she lamented.

Garth looked up towards the girl under the streetlight. The way the light covered her body made her look like a piece of art. The site of her took his breath away.

"Don't be. I deserved every bit of that. Although the second slap was a bit excessive..." he joked, trying to cover up his pain.

Artemis chuckled, "Yeah... sorry about that second one."

Garth raised his eyebrow, "Why are you here Artemis?"

Artemis let out a short snort. She moved over and sat next to the soaking wet man beside on the bench. Despite the angry vibe she was giving off to Garth she was glad he was smart enough to be wrapped up warm in this weather.

"I'm here to let you explain yourself. Not for your sake, but for mine. I need to know why you left and where you have been." she coldly replied.

Garth leaned the back of his head over the top of the bench and let the rain hit his face. He loved the rain, it helped him relax and clear his head. "I don't know where to begin Arty, It's a long story." he explained with a flat voice.

"I've got all night Garth."

Garth took a deep breath and then released it through his mouth and began to recall the events leading up to his departure. About the man he followed into 'Crime Alley' who ended up forcing him to leave Gotham and the team, otherwise he would put them in a nightmare coma where they relive their worst experiences in life over and over again or force them to live through their worst fears until they died of just that. Fear. He explained how the man promised him the ability to obtain justice for his mother's murder and to save his friends from that fate. Despite Garth being pretty much forced to go he still wanted to put the culprit of his mothers death away for a long time. He continued to explain himself with Artemis' undivided attention, She was paying attention to every word he spoke. Garth went on to talk about how he didn't think that he'd be gone for two years, how days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and soon enough years had passed. He talked about how him and his newfound partner had a positive effect on the area in which they resided in. Artemis took note of the compassion and pride he showed when talking about the people he helped, but she also noticed the regret in his voice when talking about the people he hurt. Finally he went on to tell Artemis about how he finally took down the monster who ordered his mothers death and how the man is currently being processed by the U.K Court.

Once Garth had finished explaining his version of events of the past few years Artemis was speechless. She realized that he had gone through hell, she could see it on his face, the way he dressed and the way he looked at her.

"Garth, I had no idea..." she croaked.

"Yeah well, I did write yaknow." He stated with a toneless voice.

"I couldn't bring myself to read them. But I couldn't bring myself to throw them away either.", The blonde girl murmured.

"It's fine. I never expected you to read them, writing them just gave me the feeling that you was still close to me."

"How did you even find out where I was?"

"Really? The internet." he chuckled.

Artemis let out a a short snort of laughter.

"So all of this was because of your mother?" she simply asked.

"Yeah, It's not something I ever got over. In fact you're wearing her engagement ring around your neck.", Garth replied to the question with a small smirk.

Artemis' eyebrows raised in shock and she slapped Garth on the shoulder, "Why didn't you tell me it was your mothers in the letter you left me!" Artemis blurted out. She remembered how she may or may not have thrown it against the wall in anger.

"I don't know! I didn't realize it mattered!" he insisted as he rubbed the soon to be bruised arm.

"Of course it matters Garth! It's a big deal if you give a girl an engagement ring, but to give a girl you're mothers engagement ring? That's a huge deal!" she again slapped his shoulder, she was frustrated with the lack of information he had gave her.

"Alright! Alright... Sorry..." He mumbled.

Artemis leaned back into the bench, "Listen Garth. We both know we can't pick right back up from where we left off. I can't put this ring on my finger right now. I don't even know if I can say 'I love you.'. I know I said that I never waited for you but that was all bullshit. Despite my best interests I never once stopped thinking about you.", The blonde archer had tears begin to stream down her face. Garth sat up and looked into Artemis' eyes, he could see the pain he caused her.

"The only thing that kept me going... The only thing that helped me get through it all was the hope that I could see you again.", Garth's eyes never once left Artemis' face as he slowly leaned forwards towards her. He placed his right hand onto her cheek and wiped away a tear. In return she caressed the scar on his cheek, running her thumb across it. As Garth's body was gradually moving towards Artemis she didn't once move hers. She didn't know what to do, was this even a good idea? No it wasn't, but she wasn't going to stop it. Within mere moments Garth's lips met her's, It was a slow and passionate kiss but at the same time a long one. Artemis placed one hand on each side of Garth's face and pulled him in, planting one kiss after another on his lips..

"Look Clark, Young Love! I remember when you took initiative like that. What happened?"

A passerby stopped to taunt her boyfriend which forced Artemis to remove her lips from Garth's. The two young adults blushed as the man and woman continued down the roadside.

"I have waited so long to do that"

"I've been looking forward to that for so long"

They both spoke in unison and both let out an awkward laugh.

"So does this mean...", Garth ended his question before it began.

"No it doesn't. We should take this slow, we moved too quickly last time and look where that got us. Don't take this the wrong way Garth but you're a different... Parts of you have changed, I know that much." She mumbled.

"I know..." He sighed

"Artemis?" The electric man asked

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to make you fall in love with me all over again." He promised

The blonde girl grinned at her old lovers statement and stood up from the bench. She reached into her pocket and pulled out and small piece of folded paper and handed it to him.

"I'm not going to stop you from trying" she challenged with a wink.

"And Garth? Don't go around punching my friends again."she warned as she walked away into the pouring rain.

The bearded man could not stop smiling, he had a stupid grin plastered all over his face. One he hadn't had in a long time. He looked at the folded paper in his hand and unfolded it, It read:

"As much crap as I give him GA can be pretty wise so here is something he told me about a year ago.

'An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it's going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming' - The Green Arrow

When you're ready to continue this mess of a relationship that we have call this number..."

Garth folded the piece of paper back together and placed it into his pocket, he then stood up and walked away from the bench he had been sitting on for the past few hours. He should probably find somewhere to stay for the night, for once he didn't think ahead.

 **Authors Note: I feel like "she was frustrated with the lack of information he had gave her." could sum up this entire story. Thanks for reading this far!**


	7. Chapter 7: He's Still Out There

**Chapter 7: He's Still Out There**

 _ **Gotham City: Thursday: 19:40**_

"Come on Babs! If you take any longer they'll give our reservation to someone else!", The ex-Boywonder shouted up the stairs of Wayne Manor. The third Robin let out a a long sigh, "I still don't know why I have to come with you two..."

"Because Barbara asked you too Tim and you were nice enough to accept.", Dick Grayson chuckled.

Footsteps were heard coming from the upper floor and the beautiful redhead appeared and began to jog down the stairs while she attempted to cover the black dress she was wearing with a trench coat, "Sorry guys my hair was being difficult." she huffed. Tim gave Dick the side-eye and smiled, "You look lovely, Barbara.", Barbara ruffled Tim's hair as she walked past him, "Thanks Tim, watch out Dick you might have a new rival!" she teased with a wink.

The three stepped into Bruce Wayne's personal Limo and made their way to the newly opened five-star restaurant, "Gotham Gourmet."

As the three young heroes were making their way to dinner Dick brought up the fact that Artemis had called Barbara. Barbara was surprised that Artemis had actually called her for once, that hadn't happened in a long time. She was even more surprised to learn Garth had finally returned from his crusade in London. Dick reiterated to Barbara exactly what happened between both Garth and Artemis which made Barbara put her hand in her hands at least three times.

"Those two have no idea how to communicate..." she sighed. Dick replied with "Well yeah, we all know their history."

"I don't." Tim chimed in. Barbara and Dick both looked towards him at the same time, "What?" he innocently asked.

"Adult stuff." they both replied.

The Limo eventually pulled up towards the front of the restaurant with Dick exiting the car first, he then helped Barbara exit. A flash of light appeared to encapsulate the two young heroes and as they they looked up they saw a group of photographers continue to take pictures of them.

"Mr Grayson! Mr Grayson! You on a date with the Commissioners daughter?", The one with the video camera asked. Tim now stepped out from the Limo and tapped and noticed the three men continue to take pictures of both Dick and Barbara, Dick advised to just ignore them and carry on much to Tim and Barbara's dismay.

"Ah, Mr Grayson it is a pleasure to have you dine with us tonight. Please follow me to your seats.

The Batfamily placed themselves into their chairs and each grabbed a menu, ordering their drinks and their food. Dick requested that the paparazzi outside be dealt with before they left.

Once their meals came they all dug into the delicious food. "This is so good! Good idea bringing us here Barbara!" Tim cheered. Barbara smiled, "Don't thank me, thank Bruce since this was his idea."

Dick let out a small giggle. Barbara asked why he was laughing, to which he replied "Garth returned to America today and you have only talked about him for a few minutes and that was twenty-five minutes ago."

Barbara waited until she swallowed the food in her mouth to reply, "Yeah well... You know that little trip I took to London?" she asked.

"Uh-oh" Tim laughed.

"It wasn't one of my 'Batgirl Investigations'... Well it was, kind of. I found Garth there." she mumbled. Dick raised his eyebrows, "And you didn't think to tell anyone?" he quickly whispered, not wanting to interrupt anybodies meal around them. "Why didn't bring some backup? you clearly needed it." he sassed as he pointed towards Barbara's shoulder wound with a fork.

The redhead gave her friend her version of the infamous 'Bat-stare', "Because everyone would have told me it was a waste of time. None of you cared about finding Garth. You, Megan, Kaldur, Wally... You all chose to forget about him. It was only me and Conner who still had a spark of hope that he was still out there, Artemis was too busy hating herself to care." she spat back.

"What do you expect?! He knew our secrets and disappeared, He crushed Artemis' heart and we all felt betrayed that he couldn't trust us!" He said with a raised voice with the response of the tables of people around him growing silent

Tim placed his knife and fork onto his plate obnoxiously, grabbing the attention of his peers.

"Are you two done bickering? You are both right and wrong. I for one, am more interested in why Barbara brought us here, You aren't really one for going to fancy restaurants. So, why are we here?" he asked inquisitively.

"I was hoping to talk to you both about this after our food but I guess I'll have to do it now while Dick is throwing one of his tantrums." she sassed.

Dick ignore the blatant goading, "I'm listening..." Dick replied with suspicion in his voice.

"When I came across Garth in London he was working with someone. A white haired man with red eyes..."

"Wait, wasn't that the description of that... ugh what's his name. 'The Danger'?" Dick inquired.

"Yeah, except his name was 'The Doctor'. A fitting name really, he patched up my shoulder. But at the same time he is the man who almost killed us all those years ago." she affirmed.

Tim was growing confused, "This might sounds bad and all but what does this have to with me?"

"I need you two to do me a favor. I need you to look into this man, After our mission in London he dropped off the radar. it was only by pure chance that I ran into him and Garth. I think it was his plan all along to draw Garth out and bring him to London.", Barbara was now talking in a very confident voice.

"That's a bit of a long shot isn't it Babs?" Dick interjected.

"I don't think so, Garth was originally from London; and from what Garth told me this man's family was also sentenced to death by the same man who killed Garth's mother. There has to be a connection, and if there is he will definitely have something else planned for him."

"Barbara is right. There is no such thing as a coincidence and if someone is out there planning to cause one of us harm then we need to be on his case." Tim determined. Dick looked at his younger brother and shrugged his shoulders in defeat, "Well, you've persuaded me. I'll help you. I'll reach out to some contacts and dig through some old files in the Justice League Database." he smirked. She smiled in return, "Thank you guys."

 _ **Metropolis: Friday, 08:07**_

Garth awoke from his uncomfortable slumber. He had spent the night at a nearby hostel with a very large man sleeping in the bunk above him. He never thought he say this but he missed that old beaten up mattress he had back in London. Garth led in the bed underneath the thin covers and just smiled, For the first time in a long, long time he was excited for the day to come. He was no longer scared of Artemis rejecting him or him being too afraid to confront her. Sure, his life is far from perfect right now but he has the building blocks to make it better.

Garth checked his list for the morning; He brushed his teeth, showered, changed clothes and ate breakfast. He just had one more thing to do, call Artemis. Garth thanked the hostel workers and exited the building whilst dialing the number Artemis had given him.

A voice appeared from the other end of the call, "G-Garth? why are you calling me so early? It's like... Eight." it grouched. The electric man hadn't really looked at the time after he woke but since it was fairly sunny out he had thought it was much later in the morning.

"Oh sorry I had no idea it that early" He laughed, "I just couldn't wait to hear your voice again." he smiled.

"I'll forgive you just because I can hear the smile on your face. I would have had to get up it thirty minutes anyway." she moaned.

"Do you have a lecture of somethin'", Garth asked. He heard another groan and a thud as she rolled off her bed.

"Ouch."

"You okay?" he asked with a voice of concern.

"Yeah..." she groggily replied.

Garth's voice croaked with anticipation before asking the question that has been rolling around his head for the past few days:"Arty, I was wondering... that is if your not doing anything... would you like to go somewhere?"

The Archer sighed, "Garth we only just made up barely twelve hours ago..."

"I know but... I'm rushing things aren't I?" he mumbled.

"No you're not. I'm just scared is all... Listen, why don't you walk me to my lecture? You know where I live." The blonde suggested. Garth jumped at the idea with an immediate "Yes!". The two said there goodbyes and he ran back into the hostel and grabbed a tourist map of Metropolis and quickly ran his fingers across the paper planning his route towards Artemis.

It took Garth fifty minutes to walk to the campus dormitories in which Artemis resides in. He ran up the first few flights of stairs and as he went to open the door into Artemis' halls was met with a men whose head was bandaged. The man threw a punch towards Garth and he took the brunt of the fist on purpose. Garth took a few steps back, "That make you feel better big man?" he asked.

"Relatively." he replied sternly.

"Tyler!" a husky voice shouted.

"This asshole was trying to come back in here. After last night he has some fucking nerves.", the man challenged. Artemis rolled her eyes and looked at Garth, "Have you apologized?"

"For what?" he responded as if he was just offended. The blonde lady pointed her hand towards the bandage across Tyler's head, "For this!". The electric man rubbed the side of his face, "I was planning on it and then Mr White Knight over here threw a sucker punch at me." he shot back.

"Both of you, say you're sorry. Right now." she ordered.

Garth crossed his arms and threw Tyler a dirty look while the Tyler looked at Artemis and then Garth, "Sorry." he quickly and coldly affirmed. Garth nodded his head upwards, "Same."

Artemis sighed and began to walk down the spiraled staircase leading to the exit of the complex. Garth gave Tyler the stink eye and chased after her. He eventually caught up with her outside and apologized for being difficult with her friend, she shook off what he said and asked how he slept, "Dreadfully" he replied. She turned to the man beside her and asked, "Where did you even stay? Not a park bench I hope."

The bearded man laughed, "Not last night anyway, I stayed in a hostel.". Artemis stopped in her tracks, "How long have you been in Metropolis?" she questioned. Garth pondered for a few seconds, "Like two days including today" he confirmed.

"Have you even been to Gotham to see your dad yet?" she asked with concern.

"Yeah but it wasn't a long visit. He didn't know if he should be happy or sad to see me. He's got into a bad place with some loan sharks and the drinking has gotten worse..." He mumbled. The archer's heart sunk, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up..."

Garth turned his head towards her, "Arty it's fine, I'm going to help him get through it all." he proclaimed with confidence. The two crossed the road and entered the main campus. The two joked about old times for a few minutes until Artemis asked if he had contacted anyone else from the team, she had heard Conner wanted to see him. Garth rubbed the back of his head, "I haven't. Not yet anyway. I certainly plan on it, I don't even think Barbara knows I'm back yet." he chuckled. The Archer gave an awkward look towards the man beside her, "Uhhhh yeahh, I may or may not have informed Dick and Barbara that you have came home..."

"Oh, That's fine... That actually makes things a hell of a lot easier for me!" he laughed. Artemis bumped her shoulder into the side of Garth, "Well this is my classroom, I'll see you late I guess." she hesitated.

"Yeah, Arty. I'll see you later. I'm probably heading back to Gotham this afternoon, If you need me you know where I am this time." he joked, but Artemis didn't find it at all that funny. The two young adults stood awkwardly in front of each other, was this where they were supposed to kiss? Hug? Or what? Artemis reached her hand out for a handshake with a determined look on her face. The man stood before her gave her a confused look. A very confused look. But he took her hand, shook it and laughed, "Anyway, Give me a call later tonight or tomorrow, I dunno" he offered. The blonde haired girl smiled at him and walked into her classroom, Meanwhile Garth reached into his pockets and grabbed his earphones and placed them into his ears then scrolling through the list of songs on his phone to find the right one to listen to.

 _ **Gotham City: Friday, 22:10**_

Garth landed in Gotham City a few hours ago and before he decided to head back to his father's apartment he grabbed some food from a nearby 'Bat Burger' and hovered his way to the top of the nearest building. He sat over on the edge of the roof with his legs hanging over the side. He still had a strong fear of heights but whenever he head the chance he would sit on top of a tall building to attempt to nullify his fears. Garth reached his hand into the brown paper bag and grabbed his double cheese burger and took a huge bite.

He looked up into the sky to see a plane fly past the moon and smiled. Now that he has came back from London all he can see is people moving forward, his life is no longer on hold and he still can't believe it.

"You know, There's an unwritten rule in Gotham. You aren't allowed on the rooftops unless you're in a mask.", A voice joked behind him. Garth turned his head to see a young man dressed in black and blue stood behind him with his hands on his hips. Garth nodded to the man, "Guess I lost it." he joked, In return the man walked over and sat beside him, "I'll let you off Garth." he smirked.

The electric man, again, reached into the paper bag beside him and pulled out a wrapped up burger, "I knew either you or Babs would sneak up behind me, so here." he encouraged as he past over the food. Nightwing smiled, "Thanks, Don't suppose you have any of those 'Jokerized' Fries do you?", Garth just decided to pass the bag over to Dick to grab what he wanted.

"It's good to see you Garth." Dick admitted. The electric man took another big bite from his burger, "You too!" he affirmed with a mouth full of food, making Dick chuckle. The two young men continued to eat their food and crack jokes with each other for a few more minutes until Dick grew serious with a question, "What are you planning on doing now that you're back?"

Garth pondered for a moment, slurping on his drink, "Probably see where it leads with me and Artemis. Get some type of job for income and continue to help people where I can." he disclosed. Nightwing nodded at his friends plans, "Do you have somewhere to stay?" he asked with Garth responding with a no.

"Rejoin the team." he blurted out. The electric man was surprised with the sudden offer and turned his head, looking at the few people below him, " I dunno Nightwing. I don't think that would work. No offence to you or anything but how do I know this isn't a way for the Justice League to monitor me? I doubt I have their trust." he sighed.

"Honestly Garth, It's so I can monitor you. Besides, it gives you a place to stay and you won't have to worry about paying for food or most transport, and besides you'll be doing me a favor helping train the young ones." he remarked as he threw some fries into his mouth. Garth took another sip from the drink in his hands and sighed, "Even if I didn't rejoin you would monitor me anyway, wouldn't you?" he asked. Dick nodded, "One of us would, But you're better off if it was me." he joked. Garth chuckled, "Good point."

"Fine 'Wing, I'll join. When do I start?" he smiled.

Dick stood up and stretched, "How about right now? The night is still young!" he asked as he passed over a spare domino mask. Garth laughed to himself also standing up on the ledge, he took the mask from his friends hands and fitted it over his eyes. Garth pushed down onto his black baseball cap and made sure it sat tightly around his head, "Lead the way Birdboy" he beamed as the two began to jump over rooftops on their way to patrol the night in Gotham City.


	8. Chapter 8: I'm Not New Here

**Chapter 8: I'm Not New Here**

 _ **Mt. Justice: Saturday, 12:07**_

Yesterday Garth was invited to rejoin the team that he left all those years ago, today was his first day back. You would think that he would be excited to the point where he couldn't sleep but the truth is that he didn't sleep because he was terrified of seeing everyone again. He has only seen a three of his old friends since he has been back and now he has to be in the same place as all of them at once, it was nerve racking. Nightwing had Garth run through a psych test before he officially rejoined the team and from what he could tell was that Garth was fine both mentally and physically, there was some things that Dick took notice of but he deemed them not worth looking into further.

"That's enough of that Garth, you've pretty much passed every test. Welcome back.", Dick chuckled. Garth smiled and looked up to his friend, "You have no idea how long I've wanted to hear one of you say that."

"Well be prepared to hear it a hell of a let more, just don't get overwhelmed by it!", Nightwing stood up and reached his hand out to his new teammate. Garth raised himself from the armchair and grasped the ex-boywonder's hand and shook it, "Got it, I have to stay whelmed." he smirked. Nightwing let out his old Robin laugh, "Definitely."

The two made their way out of the side room and down to the kitchen. As the two were making their way to the entrance of the kitchen they heard clanging and the sounds of flames flickering and then the sounds of a fire extinguisher going off, "That is why you don't turn into a monkey and climb all over the kitchen Gar!" a calm yet stern voice bickered.

"Sorry sis..." an unfamiliar voice mumbled.

Garth and Nightwing turned into the kitchen to see a young green boy with a tail sulking and an older redheaded M'gann M'orzz standing before them. The Martian turned to the two men stood at the entrance of the kitchen and a huge smile enveloped her face, "GARTH!" she screamed as she ran up to her old teammate and wrapped her arms around him. Garth managed to keep his footing and held onto M'gann.

"It so good to see you again! Dick told me you were back but I couldn't believe it until I saw you!" she beamed into his ear. Garth let out a laugh, "And it's great to see you again too.", Megan stepped back from the hug with a smile still on her face when her expression on her face changed as if a light-bulb appeared above her head, "Nightwing, We should throw a party!" she effused. Dick looked over to the man in front of him and said, "I'm not too sure that's a good idea Megan. He's just came back."

"All the more reason to do it, Isn't throwing a party when someone returns to you an Earth custom?" she articulated. She now turned to Garth, "Come on Garth, It'll be fun!", Garth looked behind him over to Nightwing, who then gave a 'why not?' shrug, Garth turned back to Miss Martian and smiled, "Sure. Lets do it!".

"Great, I'll get everything sorted! Oh I almost forgot, this is my little brother Garfield." she beamed. The electric man raised an eyebrow, "Another Martian?" he asked, The small green boy let out a chuckle "I'm not a Martian, M'gann is my adoptive sister. She saved my life by donating her blood and now I can shapeshift" he cheered as he turned from an ape to a snake then to an eagle and then back to his human form.

"That is so cool" Garth exclaimed. Garfield turned into a rabbit and hopped onto the kitchen counter, "So what is it you do? I take it you're a new member of the team, you seem a bit too old for it though... It's the beard." he joked.

"I don't think there's any rules on age there little man." Garth jested, "I manipulate electricity around me. It let's me do all sorts of things." He informed. "... That's awesome!" the shapeshifter cheered.

Nightwing put his hand over Garth's left shoulder, "Come on, Let's go find Conner." he encouraged. Garth nodded to Dick and the two made their way through the kitchen, "It was lovely to see you again M'gann, and nice meeting you Garfield." he smiled.

Nightwing led Garth to the training area and stood at the doorway as they both watched Superboy take on Wondergirl. Wondergirl was throwing strike after strike onto the Superman clone who was constantly blocking each attack. As she attempted to throw a punch towards Conner's face he ducked his head, grabbed Wondergirl's arm and tossed her onto her back, "Black Canary taught me that one." he smirked. Wondergirl stood up and rubbed her back, "Yeah... I can tell..." she winced. Superboy walked over to the blonde haired Amazon and helped her up, "Take five minutes and then spar with Lagoon Boy. Robin and Beetle I want you to up next, Don't go overboard while I'm gone." he ordered.

Conner walked away from the young heroes and made his way to the two men stood at the entrance. With a smirk on his face he reached out and shook Garth's hand, "It's been a long time Garth." he stated. Garth chuckled, "Yeah well, I'm back now. I hear I have you to thank for Barbara turning up in London?"

Conner nodded, "Yeah. I guess I caused some problems there didn't I?" he asked with a plain face as he pointed to his right shoulder indicating that he was talking about Barbara's wound. Garth sighed, "That was more my fault than anything.".

"Can you two be any more depressing? You two haven't seen each other for years, Lighten up!" Nightwing laughed. Garth smirked and raised his eyebrow yet again, He raised his arms up and threw an arm round both the shoulders's of Conner and Dick, "I've missed my boys" he cheered. Dick chuckled, "Jesus you're accent has got thicker."

Garth's attention switched to the sparring session currently happening, it was the new Robin against a boy in what seems to be blue armor. Conner nudged his elbow into the side of Garth, "Come on, I'll introduce you to them."

The three men walked to the edge of the sparring ring and Superboy raised his voice, "Alright Team, put your sessions on hold and come over here.". Garth was surprised by Conner's position in the team, the Conner he knew was a man of few words with quite a temper but it seems he has really stepped up since half the original team left. The four young heroes slowly made their way and lined up in front of the older heroes.

"Wondergirl, Robin, Lagoon Boy and Blue Beetle. This is Garth, He'll be returning to the team as of today." he announced.

"Returning? I've never heard of you before." Lagoon Boy goaded.

"Yeah, me neither." Blue Beetle added.

"I have, You were the ninth member right? I know you from the memorial." Wondergirl added, Garth looked over at Nightwing in confusion. Nightwing shrugged his shoulders, "It says M.I.A". "Fair Enough." Garth replied.

"Anyway, He's part of the team again. He'll be helping me train you all and since he has experience with powers that aren't based on hand to hand combat he should be invaluable to you all." Conner informed to the young heroes.

Garth stepped forward and cleared his throat, "It's a pleasure to meet you all and I look forward to seeing you all in action. Training-wise I'll help you control your powers so you don't lose control but at the same time weave them into your own combat style, It's something I picked up over the years."

"Maybe you can show Jaime a thing or two. He has a problem with that bug on his back" Lagoon Boy teased. Blue Beetle glared over to Atlantean, "Rather have a bug on my back than look like a bug, hermanos" he joked.

"You know the rules guys, you play nicely. Your break is over get back to your sparring.", Nightwing ordered and the four young heroes dispersed. Blue Beetle and Robin stood at the center of the arena and waited for the start signal. When the bell sounded the two charged at each other. Garth spent the next hour monitoring all four of the young heroes making mental notes on what to teach them:

Robin was near perfect in technique with his staff but he tunnel visioned too much and Garth felt he fought too clean, but that was a matter of opinion since he himself had a dirty/street fighting style.

Lagoon Boy was too confident in himself. He focused too much on his brute strength, what was he going to do when he couldn't go beast mode?

Wondergirl focused too much on using her fists, she was too easily countered.

Blue Beetle was still learning how to use his abilities, that much was clear to see.

Garth was looking forward to training the 2nd generation of young heroes. He smiled to himself, there he was again looking forward.

 _ **Mt. Justice: Saturday, 18:35**_

After Garth had spent most of the afternoon helping to train the team he spent the rest of the afternoon visiting his father who had grown pale and had again turned to alcohol for comfort. While Garth was away he stayed in contact with his father, just like he did with Artemis he sent letters in a manner so that neither could track his location but there was always that lingering feeling inside him saying that he should have told one of his teammates to keep track of him. He knew his father had an addictive personality and a history with alcohol but he didn't think he was stupid enough to borrow money from scumbags.

Once Garth had visited his father he made his way to the nearest zeta tube and appeared in the entrance of the cave. All the lights were off and Garth laughed to himself, "Meg does know a surprise party is only a surprise when you don't know about it.", he continued to walk through the open space expecting someone to scream surprise but he heard nothing but silence. He made his way through the hallway towards the living room and peered through the doorway. The room was black with a silhouette of a man. A pain grew inside his head as the shadow became clearer, Garth looked up from the ground after rubbing his forehead to see familiar oxford shoes and the the upper body of an expensive suit. The lights flicked on

"Welcome Home!"

"Holy shit!" Garth exclaimed.

The sounds of party horns being blown, party poppers going off and the noise of synchronized voices attempting to surprise him made Garth jump out his skin to the point where he fell backwards onto the ground. What was that shadow? He thought to himself, It looked a lot like...

A hand reached out to pulled Garth up, he snapped away from his thoughts and accepted the hand. Once he was on his feet he was met with a freckled face with a cheeky smile, "Now you owe me a postcard from London and the ground" he chuckled. Garth let out a small snort, "Still got that humor of yours Wally." he joked as he rubbed his soon to be bruised back. Wally wrapped his left arm around Garth, "You know it buddy!" he mumbled as he put a party horn in his mouth and blew it towards his face. Garth looked around the room to see who was there and he was quite surprised with the amount of people; here was Wally, Nightwing, M'gann, Blue Beetle, Robin, Wondergirl, Lagoon Boy, Black Lightning, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado and last of all...

"Garth!" the redhead beamed as she ran in for a hug, "I didn't think you'd be back so soon!" she cheered. Garth smiled and hugged her back, "How's the shoulder Babs?" he asked with concern. The Batgirl smiled, "It's almost healed thanks to the Justice League's medical station.".

The electric man smiled, "Good.".

"Are we gonna talk all night or are we going to partaay?!" both Garfield and Wally shouted at the same time, both gave each other a look of astonishment and then pointed finger guns towards each other.

"I like the sound of that! Someone chuck me a Bev!" Garth cheered. Everyone looked at him confused, "A 'Bev'?" M'gann asked. Garth face palmed, "That's right, American laws, I'm not 21." he mumbled to himself.

"Forget I said anything, Someone smash the music on! I got some dancing to do!" he beamed with the reply of cheering from the room.

The night progressed and Garth spent most of it socializing with his old friends, joking around with the younger heroes, talking with the members of the Justice League and busting some questionably embarrassing dance moves. The only ones brave enough to challenge him on the dance floor was Barbara and Garfield. As Garfield got tired of being shown up in the threeway dance battle he wandered over to the third Robin, Barbara moved in closer to Garth and whispered in his ear, "This sure seems like a step down from clubbing in London, right?". Garth nodded and was going to question whether she actually went clubbing in London but he concluded she must have if she crashed through the window of that girls apartment, If he knew Barbara then she would enjoy her night while taking out bad guys. He smirked at what Barbara had said and whispered back, "It's fun don't get me wrong but I could definitely do with a drink". The song that they were dancing to ended and Barbara leaned in one more time, "Let's throw an after party." she smirked as she shook the plastic cup in her hands. 'Surely she isn't...' he thought to himself, then letting out a short giggle at Barbara's delinquency.

As the next song came on Garth felt a vibration in his pocket, he reached into his skinny jeans and pulled out his phone. It was a message from Artemis:

"Sender: Arty

Hey Garth, Megan told me about the party but I'm busy so I can't come. Make sure to enjoy your night."

Garth had a hard time debating with himself with whether or not this was an angry text, Artemis has always been a direct person so there was probably no hidden meaning behind it. Garth tapped out a reply thanking her and letting her know that he'll be back in Metropolis soon.

The night progressed with the older heroes leaving first claiming that they had work to do, Nightwing and Conner sent the younger heroes away at around half 10 due to their early rising in the morning. All that was left were six members of the original team, Nightwing, Miss Martian, Kid Flash, Superboy, Batgirl and Garth. The six sat on the couch or on the floor surrounding the coffee table, they joked around, teased each other, told stories and caught up with Wally and Garth.

"So Artemis couldn't make it, Garth?" Wally asked. The electric boy sighed, "Nah man, she texted me earlier saying she was busy."

Wally looked confused, "Surely you can't be too busy to celebrate your boyfriend's coming home party and catch up with old friends..."

Garth interjected, "I'm... not her boyfriend. At least I don't think so. I don't really know what we are..."

M'gann piped up, "So you two haven't done anything since you've came back?". The entire group turned to the Martian in shock, that was not a question they expected her to ask, "What?! I know about that stuff!" she yelped. Nightwing looked over to Barbara, "Did you share that drink with Megan?" he asked. Barbara giggled, "Maybe..."

Wally climbed from the ground to his feet, "Well guys, it's been nice catching up with you all but I better run."

"Boooo" Megan moaned.

Wally looked over to Garth who stood up to say goodbye to his speedster friend, the two shared a quick man hug and shook hands. Wally wished goodbye to everyone and in a flash he disappeared. Ten minutes later the alcohol that Barbara shared with Megan was beginning to take more of an effect on the Martian who was now beginning to float against her will. Conner and Nightwing decided that it was probably a good idea to get her into her bedroom which seems like it'll be quite the feat with the way she is. Now all that was left was Garth and Barbara. Barbara looked over the coffee table and gazed over towards the man in front of her, "Garth?" she asked.

Garth smiled over to his best friend, "Yeah Babs?"

The redhead now had a mischievous grin on her face, "Wanna go hit the clubs?" she offered.

"Neither of us look over twenty-one" he advised.

"I know the bouncer! Plus with that beard you look at least 25" she pointed out.

"It is only quarter past eleven... Sure, why not! I have nothing to do tomorrow anyway." He disclosed as he stood up reached his hand out to Barbara to pull her up to his level, "Let's go have some fun!" the redhead cheered.


	9. Chapter 9: Mr Smiles

_**Authors Notes: If you're skipping through the chapters to get a feel of the writing/story like I usually do I recommend not skimming through this one.**_

 _ **Chapter 9: Mr Smiles**_

 _ **Metropolis: Saturday, 17:27**_

Artemis stood in front of the mirror and judged the outfit she put on. She was wearing a blue crop top, a pair of dark skinny jeans and pair of green sneakers, she sighed to herself thinking that she has no idea how to pick outfits out. It's not like she was trying to impress anybody, well, she didn't know if she was or not. Artemis could have went with a lot more feminine style but she didn't want to give Garth the wrong impression. Artemis walked over to her grab her bag from her bed to check she has everything she needed before heading out, her phone, keys,purse. As she closed her bag and went to sling it over her shoulder the lights of her dorm room cut out, "Great." she complained.

She reached back into her bag and pulled out her phone, activating the flashlight. She turned around and shined the light over towards the doorway, she gasped as she noticed a figure blocking the exit of her room. The man was dressed up in all black. black shirt, Black suit, black tie and black shoes. Protruding from the man's head was white hair, he also had red eyes lighting up his face. Artemis reached behind her and grabbed a small vase with a variety of flowers in them and threw it towards the man in black; he sidestepped the flying vase and appeared in front of Artemis with his hand on her throat. He tightened his grip around her neck for a few moments and threw her against the wall, "Sit still girl and listen." he seethed. Artemis stood up from the ground and attempted to throw a roundhouse kick to the man in black who simply grabbed her leg and threw her into the ground.

"Stop." he ordered, the archer attempted to move her body but it was numb. The white-haired demon stepped towards her and kneeled down in front of her, "I'm not here to fight. I'm here to talk." he sneered. Artemis again attempted to move her body but her struggles were in vain, "What do you want? You're messing with the wrong person." she snapped.

"Garth Daniels. Where is he?" he questioned.

Artemis scowled at the man, "Like I'd fucking know!"

The red-eyed monster struck her across the side of the face, "Now now, watch your language." he grinned. The man in black now caressed the side of her face with the back of his hand, "If anyone was to know where Garth is, it would be you and by the looks of it you're going somewhere nice. If you answer me with no more problems I'll leave quickly, We wouldn't want anything to happen to that pretty little face of yours now would we?" he hissed.

"What do you want with him?" she spat. The man in black now stood up from the ground and his attention moved on to the picture of Garth and Artemis on her desk, "Such a lovely photo. From better days I imagine?" he asked.

"Did you not hear me?" Artemis bickered.

"I'm sure he says he never once stopped thinking about you. That might be true but here is something for you to think about, why did he share his bed with the women of London?"

Artemis' gave the man a look of disgust, "Shut up you sick, twisted pile of shit"

The man dropped the frame on the floor and stomped on it, Artemis tried as hard as she could to get up from the ground and break every bone in this body but her attempt was all for naught.

"Are you going to tell me where he is or not?" he growled.

"No." she retaliated.

"I asked nicely... It's a shame I had to resort to this." he said with a satisfied voice as he walked over to the girl on the ground and planted two fingers onto her forehead. Artemis began to wince at the ever growing pain, Tears began to flow down her eyes, she couldn't hold in her emotions. She was terrified. "G-Goth... Gotham." she confessed. The man forced his fingers against her forehead making the blonde haired girl shriek in fear. He let go.

"Thank you." He smiled and as the lights flickered on he disappeared. Banging appeared on the other side of her door as Artemis led there recovering from whatever this demon had done to her mind, she couldn't stop crying and holding her head into her hands. The door bust open as a multitude of Artemis' hallmates came into her room to see if she was okay only to find nobody there and the window wide open.

 _ **Gotham City: Sunday, 01:47**_

Barbara and Garth managed to enter the nightclub with the permission of the redhead's friend. The two have spent the past two hours necking shots and dancing, Garth was attempting to wingman his best friend to annoy her, but she was having none of Garth's antics, she was ignoring each man who came up to her. The two were pretty damn drunk at this point and made their way to the bar once more, Garth raised his voice so that Barbara could hear him over the thumping music, "Are you going to turn down every...*Burp*... every guy that comes up to you?" he joked. Barbara raised two of her fingers towards the bartender and asked for two shots of vodka, "Not every guy... Just practically all of them." she stuttered

Barbara passed a small plastic shot glass towards her friend. "Here, 3...2...1", the two friends tipped their heads back and swallowed the liquid. Barbara scrunched up her face, "That wass not a good idea..." she stammered, Garth laughed at his friend, "Barrrbaarrraaaaa... I wanna go get me some of that fresh Gotham air!" he chuckled after releasing another burp. The redhead laughed, "Fresh air? Gotham? Hah! Good one!" she gave Garth a light slap on the shoulder and fell into him, The electric man grabbed hold of his friend and pulled her up to help her stand, stumbling a bit himself. He was in no better state.

The two made their way out to the exit of the club and the large tattooed man stood by the door raised his voice, "Once you're out, you're out. No re-entry.", Garth flung one of his hands down towards the bouncer, "Yeah yeah, blah blah blah" he mocked. Barbara for whatever reason found this absolutely hilarious and started cackling at the man holding her up. Barbara leaned in to Garth again, "My place is closer than yoursss buddy, You can crasshhhh on my couch. Like a potato!" she laughed. The two stumbled through the dark streets of Gotham for fifteen minutes, somehow making it to Barbara's apartment safely.

It took a few moments for the redhead to place her keys into the lock and unlock the entrance, as she did this Garth was leaning against the door and once the door swung open Garth fell to the ground. Barbara never found something as funny as what she just witnessed. She held onto her stomach and cried of laughter, Barbara stumbled to the floor and led down next to her friend as the both chuckled as the laughter died down. The redhead let out a small wheeze, "Oh my god that made my night!"

Garth turned to the girl led next to him, "Glad you find my pain funny Babsicles." He joked.

"Babsicles? never say that again Garthy" she warned.

"Babs...icles" he challenged. The redhead rolled her body to the right and leaned over the top of her friend, "I warned you..." she cautioned as she began to tickle the man below her's sides. Unlike Superman, Garth had two deadly weaknesses, heights and how ticklish he is, today he comes face to face with the worst one. In between his laughter he begged Barbara to stop, she declined and continued with no mercy. The electric man took hold of the redheads hips and picked both himself and her from the ground; Barbara wrapped her legs around his waist and giggled, "When did you get so strong?", "What? You never noticed?" he flirted. Barbara placed her hands on each side of Garth's face and planted a lustful kiss onto his lips, he resisted the urge to kiss her back but lord did he want to. Barbara retreated her lips from Garth's, her eyes scanning every inch of his face attempting to see a hint of happiness as to what happened. The electric man gave a compassionate look to his friend. As he held Barbara from the ground he moved towards the wall and placed Barbara's back against it, he knew he shouldn't. The redhead let out a cheeky giggle as she smiled and planted yet another lustful kiss onto his warm, alluring lips. Only this time Garth returned the favor.

Moments passed as their tongues battled until Barbara ran her hands through Garth's dark, smooth hair as he planted a kiss onto her cheek, then one on her jaw slowly planting one kiss after another down her soft neck. Barbara let out one moan after the next, she moved her hands from Garth's hair and placed them underneath his shaped jaw and moved his face an inch away from hers as she looked down towards the man she wanted. The beautiful redhead bit her lip as her eyes burned with desire; He was stunned by the expression on her face not once did his gaze move from her eyes.

"Bed. Now" she whispered as her lips once again collided with the electric man's. Garth's hands moved from her hips onto her ass as he carried her towards her bedroom. The bearded man opened the door with his back and walked towards the redheads girly bedroom, Garth raised an eyebrow,"I didn't realize you're a girly girl." He teased. Barbara planted a kiss onto Garth's forehead, "There's a lot of things you don't know about me Garthy."

The two young heroes fell onto the bed with a bounce and the sound of the springs squeaking. Barbara threw Garth over onto his back and pinned his hands above his head and she placed her tongue into his mouth and the two battled. The redhead freed Garth's hands as she slowly unbuttoned his white shirt, Barbara removed her lips from the war with the bearded hero and sat on his lap. She removed the low cut black top she was wearing and threw it onto the ground, Garth ran his hands across the redhead's toned body as lightly as he could making her groan with pleasure. The redheaded bat removed the yellow bra from her chest and pulled Garth in as he caressed her body. The man once again made his way to her smooth neck making her moan once more, "Garth... Take off your..." she winced. Barbara watched as the man before her removed his open shirt and she saw the scars the streets of London had given him as well as that tattoo of his, The arrow with a lighting bolt as the head. She didn't care what that tattoo symbolized, she needed Garth right now.

Barbara climbed off from Garth and began to strip the clothes from the rest of her body, she slowly jiggled her ass from the tight leggings she wore and threw off the thin socks covering her delicate feet. Garth pulled his legs from his skinny jeans and turned to see the perfect silhouette of the girl before him. The moonlight outlined her body and the open window allowed a breeze to flow through her hair as she stood before him in nothing but her black thong.

"I want this." she whispered with a husky voice. The electric man's face looked nervous but his mouth curved into a smile, "So do I...". The final piece of clothing the redhead wore fell to the ground, she was blushing as she moved towards the man on the bed, she leaned him onto his back and removed the obstacle between him and her. She climbed on top of Garth and hovered over his lap, She took hold of his manhood and slowly lowered herself onto it, as her face turned pink she let out a loud moan. Garth bit his lip and looked at the beautiful girl above him, "Holy shit." he whispered. Barbara slowly began to pick up the pace as she rode him, Not once did the two young heroes look away from each other. The redheads moans grew louder after a while of her fucking the electric man like there was no tomorrow, her breathing grew heavier, "ohh my god, I'm gonna... Garth keep going..." she cried out. Garth felt Barbara tighten around his cock as she let out a cry of satisfaction, she lowered her body onto Garth's until both their chests were touching. She planted the most passionate kiss she had ever given onto his lips as she removed him from inside her and rolled onto her back. the electric man took note of her silent order and placed himself between her legs, slid himself inside of the beautiful redhead before him and placed a hand either side of her head supporting his body as he gazed into his eyes.

Garth started slowly, giving her a chance to recover for a moment, "Faster." she demanded as her eyebrows snapped together. Garth heard the order and followed it, Barbara began to squeal at the pleasure she felt as the man she loved made her body quiver. This time it was Garth's breathing that got heavier as he crashed his lips against against the woman on the bed who now wrapped her legs around his waist and her hands round his head, kissing his desirable lips as he groaned, "Babs...".

"Do it..." she begged in between their kisses. Garth sped up for a brief moment letting out a guttural noise, The redhead felt the shaft inside her pulsate as she bit her lip letting out a happy giggle. Garth collapsed beside her and the two looked at each other, both out of breath with smiles on their faces. Barbara planted a kiss on the man's cheek, "Garth, I... Thank you..." she grinned.

"...yeah" he softly spoke.

Barbara sat up and wrapped the blanket from the end of the bed around her bare body, "I'm going to go and get cleaned up babe, I'll be back in a minute." she said with a breathy voice.

Garth led there silently, his mind racing a mile a minute. He knew he should not have done that. At all. He should have left the apartment as soon as her lips met his. Was this cheating? It's not like he and Artemis were in a relationship or anything, right? They were taking it slow, treading the water seeing where it takes them. His head and his heart hurt, of course it was cheating. He spent two years pining after the girl he intended to love for the rest of his life and he finally returns, everything goes well with her with the two of them agreeing to see where the mess of a relationship goes but here he is in bed with his best friend... Artemis' best friend. He knew it was all too good to be true. He knew that he'd fuck it all up eventually.

Barbara cleaned herself up the bathroom, as she was finishing off she looked in the mirror to see her cheeks pink and a happy smile stuck to her face. She was content, she was happy. The redhead looked over her image in the mirror, she tilted her head to the left and noticed a love-bite on her neck and sighed, "That's going to be hard to explain...". The smile on her face faded as she thought for a moment, "How does it go from here?". After all, Garth loved Artemis, That was a fact. Artemis was heartbroken the entire time Garth was gone, she truly loved him. Barbara knew Artemis could not find out about what had happened between her and Garth, it would crush her best friend. She laughed at that word, "Friend". A real friend would not fuck the other's partner.

Barbara re-entered the bedroom and dropped the blanket that was covering her body to the floor and led down next to the man on her bed, placing her head onto his chest running her fingers around his body and planting a kiss onto his cheek. Garth turned his gaze from the ceiling and onto the beautiful woman beside him, "Barbara, I... uh... What happens now?" he nervously asked. The redhead breathed from her nose and gave a hurt smile, "I don't know Garth. We can't tell Artemis, that much is certain."

The electric man sighed and sunk his head into the pillow, "I feel dirty."

"I do too." she whispered as she stopped circling her fingers around his chest and simply placed her hand onto his abs, "But I'm glad it happened..." she confessed. Garth looked at her with surprise, "Really?" he asked inquisitively.

The red bat let out a small chuckle, "I'm going to confess to something so promise not to laugh, okay?". Garth moved his arm around her naked shoulders, "I promise." he remarked.

Barbara's gaze fixed onto the wall opposite her, "I had a massive crush on you when I was 17. It's the whole reason I spoke to you the first day we met.", Garth let out a small giggle and tightened his arm around her bare shoulders. The redhead gave him a light slap on the chest, "Stop laughing! I'm serious. I put up this front that I'm hard to get but the first two weeks you were at Gotham Academy I noticed how lovely you were to everyone, you never had a bad thing to say about anyone." she smiled, "Not to mention that smile you give people, that smile melts me."

Garth put his left index finger underneath her chin and raised Barbara's face towards him and gave her his old signature smile, she leaned up towards him and planted a kiss on his lips, "Stop it or we'll have to go for round two." she teased.

"Anyway, Mr Smiles. When I found you in London, well when I found out it was actually you I couldn't contain my happiness. I couldn't believe it was actually you. You say that you're a changed person to everyone but I know for a fact that you're still that same caring boy I loved two years ago, no trimmed beard or long hair is gonna change that you goof." Her lip quivered as her eyes glistened with tears.

Garth turned to the woman in his arms, "I know you told me this before but... You actually loved me?" he questioned as he wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Still do." she admitted as she pointed towards the photo frame on her bedside table. It was a picture of her and Garth, it was one they had taken in costume during one of their 'Bat Burger Ledge Hangouts' that they use to do each time they patrolled Gotham together. The picture had Batgirl at the forefront with her arm moving towards the front of the camera, It was a selfie she had taken on her phone. Volt was dressed in his old red and white costume with his right arm placed around Batgirl's shoulder with his tongue hanging out and his left hand pulling onto his eyelid. Batgirl however had her left hand placed underneath Volt's jaw as if she was pulling him into a kiss as she as mockingly pouting her lips towards Garth's silly face.

"That brings back a lot of memories" The electric man confessed.

"Good memories." The redheaded bat added as she gently placed her head back onto Garth's chest.

"Now let's stop talking and get some shut eye." she ordered as she made her naked body comfortable in his arms. Garth pulled the cover over the top of them and kissed Barbara's forehead and closed his eyes.

"Goodnight Babe.", The redhead whispered.

"Yeah... Goodnight." he replied.

 **Authors Notes: Well then... Nothing ever goes smoothly for Garth or Artemis, does it?**

 **(Please don't murder me.)**


	10. Chapter 10: The Mourning

**Chapter 10: The Mourning**

 _ **Gotham City: Sunday, 8:28**_

His eyes awakened as he brought his hands to his eyes, rubbing the sleep from them. His vision blurred into focus as he looked at the ceiling above, he rolled over onto his right side expecting to find the redhead led next to him only to find a crease on the bed where she slept. Garth's head pounded, the drinking from the night before had caught up with him, he placed his legs onto the ground and rubbed his temples, "The club was not a good idea..." he mumbled as he rose to his feet. He looked around the floor for his clothes only to find his underwear and his jeans which he promptly put on, Garth's stomach was now rumbling and his mouth was dry. He exited the bedroom in search for a remedy for his hangover and his hunger.

Garth closed the door behind him and walked out into the combined living room and kitchen, behind the counter he saw Barbara slaving over a frying pan. She was wearing his white shirt from the night before which ended midway down her smooth thighs, the shirt was only buttoned up halfway exposing a large part of her chest stopping just above her belly button. From what Garth could tell the only other thing she was wearing was her underwear; he next noticed her hair, for once she hadn't styled it. She had placed her red hair into a messy bun exposing the nape of her neck. She turned to the half dressed man as she heard the door close and her mouth curved into a happy smile, "Good morning babe." she purred.

"Mornin' Babs" he stuttered, "I don't suppose you have any painkillers do you?" he asked as he held his right hand against his head. The happy redhead reached into a drawer beside her and took out a small box taking out two tablets, she then grabbed a glass and filled it with water. She took the tablets and the glass of water and gave it to the scarred man as he entered the open kitchen, he swallowed the first pill and washed it down with liquid and did it one more time for the second. Barbara turned back to the frying pan and moved the sausages around and flipped the bacon.

She looked over her shoulder and flirtatiously asked if he slept well to which Garth replied it was the best night in years. She turned around and moved over to the man behind her running her fingers from his abdomen all the way up to his chin and planted a kiss onto his lips, "That may have been your best night but this is most definitely my happiest morning." she whispered into his ear. Garth raised and eyebrow, "Oh really?" he teased. The redhead let out a happy giggle from her throat as she placed a kiss onto his neck and moved her way down to his chest. The electric man placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up and her face gained shades of pink as she blushed.

"Barbara..." he whispered.

"Y-yeah?" she stammered.

The man's gaze turned to behind the girl opposite him and chuckled, "The sausages are on fire", her eyes widened as she sped over to the frying pan and removing it from the stove.

"Uhhh... Take a seat and I'll bring breakfast over to you" she ordered as she let out a nervous chuckle. Garth walked to the opposite side of counter which separated the kitchen from the living room and took a seat at the small table that was placed next to the kitchen, it was a cheap wooden piece of furniture but that didn't matter. The beautiful redhead swerved round the kitchen counter and placed a plate in front of the man sat down and another at the chair opposite him as she placed herself in the open chair. Garth's face lit up as he saw the ultimate English fry up scattered over the large plate of his, "You Angel." he complimented as he dug in to the food before him. Barbara burst into laughter as she saw the electric man tear into the food like he hadn't eaten in months, "I noticed how much you liked Hamza's food so I told myself I'd make it for you when you returned!" she beamed. With a mouth stuffed with food he told her it was like eating the real thing.

The two tucked into their breakfast passing each other glances as they didn't really know what to talk about as the awkwardness of what happened last night set in. Barbara eventually gave up on the food she cooked as she realized she may have went overboard with it whereas Garth eventually cleaned the plate and satisfied his hunger, "Babs, that was fuckin' amazing" he complimented as he leaned back into the chair.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it Garthy" she smirked, for some reason her body filled with happiness, It was like they were actually together. A happy couple. Not once did she expect for this to happen, but she knew it wasn't going to last.

"Babe, About last night..." she mumbled as she grabbed the plates from the table and moved them to the kitchen counter. Garth let out a sigh and his expression sunk, "Yeah, we really do need to talk about what happened..."

"I'm more than happy to go over it again with you." she teased. She then shook her head and stammered, "No, I uh... Ignore that. What I mean is, where do we go from here?" she nervously asked.

Garth leaned forward and clasped his hands in front of his mouth, "Let's face it, the only reason it happened was because we were drunk off our tits. Hell, I think I still am." he acknowledged. Barbara's eyes squinted, "I can't deny that we were extremely drunk but don't make out that you didn't have some sense of what you were doing." she commented.

"I never said I didn't but it's certainly a factor as to what happened. Do you honestly think we would have did what we did if we wasn't drunk?" he sincerely asked with a furrowed brow.

The redhead let out a snort, "Honestly? Yes. Do you think we could be as close as we are and get out of it with nothing happening?" she questioned. Garth now moved his hands on top of his head and leaned back once more, "I don't know what I thought. What happened happened and from what I can tell we both have some sense of regret about it." he hypothesized.

The redhead removed herself from the table and released a chuckle, "Oh for gods sake Garth would you stop saying 'what we did' and 'what happened' and just admit to what we did?! We kissed and we fucked. Be a man and own up to what we did." she bickered as her eyes began to glisten.

Garth sighed into his hands, stood up from his chair and walked up towards the redhead wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in tightly. Barbara tried to resist the hug as tears flowed down her face, "Let go of me Garth. I get it, I do. You wished last night never happened. You don't love me. You love Artemis and she loves you."

"I think you only get half of it Barbara. I'm happy last night happened and I do lo... Have feelings for you..." he whispered into her ear with a croaky voice. The redhead pulled her head from Garth's bare chest and looked at him with a quivering lips, "But?..." she sniffled.

Garth wiped a newly formed tear from her rosy cheeks with his thumb, "But I also love Artemis as well. I don't know what to do. I cheated on her, I'm fucking scum and I don't deserve either of you." he murmured as his eyes flooded with tears. Garth released the beautiful redhead from his arms and moved over to her couch, taking a seat and wiping his eyes as liquid poured from them.

Barbara chased over to the man now sat on her couch and pulled him into her chest and began to run her hands through his hair, "You're not scum Garth. You just made a mistake, we both did. If anyone is to blame it's me. I kissed you first and you didn't return it, I saw the signal to not go any further but I chose to ignore it. It was me that had us go to the bedroom and it was me who initiated this whole mess. Blame me, not yourself" she consoled.

Barbara now hated what she had done. Most of all she hated herself. She knew full well that this was tearing Garth into pieces and she had done it to him, She felt sick to the stomach when she thought about how Artemis would react if she were to find out what they did. What was worse was that she had opened up her feelings to Garth hoping that he would see what was right of him. It was her who would always cheer Garth up when Artemis wasn't around, It was her who helped him fit into the teams mould, It was her who found him in London. That's what hurt her the most, she couldn't be with him.

The redhead raised the dark haired man from her chest and placed her right hand across his cheek, she looked deeply into his eyes and gave him a pained smile, "I love you Garth, I do and there is no stopping that. But for the sake of you and Artemis I'll back off, the last thing she needs is to be heartbroken again like she was last time and I'll be damned if I do that to her." she comforted. Garth nodded to what she said as she wiped his eyes with the baggy sleeves of his white shirt. The electric man's lips moved towards the redhead, planting a slow tender kiss onto her pink cheeks, "You're still my best friend. If you think that you're the one who can leave this time then you're sorely mistaken." he whispered with a husky voice. Garth pulled her into a tight embrace and the two laughed, "We're a mess." Barbara joked as arms wrapped around his naked torso.

"The biggest." He teased.

 _ **Mt. Justice: Sunday, 10:35**_

"Nightwing, I've found something on 'The Doctor' and I think you should see it.", Tim announced as he walked into the monitor room. He pushed Dick to the side and tapped onto the keys where a classified file titled: 'T.C.W.P.' appeared on the large computer screen. Dick turned to the protege beside him, "What are you doing Tim? T.C.W.P... What is it? What does it stand for?" he asked as he read through what wasn't covered with black inc.

"It stands for: The Coming World Project." he informed

"Go on..." Nightwing coaxed. The third Robin folded his arms, "A private sector in Britain ran secret tests on orphaned and unwanted babies. They aimed to mutate their D.N.A with the Meta gene and use them to fight their wars, or as a secret task-force." he advised.

"What does this have to do with 'The Doctor'?" the ex boy wonder questioned as he tapped away on the keyboard trying to see what the ink was covering on the picture of an old crusted file. Tim pointed to the monitor, "There. You see the names? Lee Bridge, Clyde Banks and Susan Davies."

Nightwing furrowed his brow underneath his mask, "Susan Davies? Could that be Garth's..." he questioned to himself.

"It's Garth's mother." Tim confirmed. "Lee Bridge was arrested last Sunday, He claims he was attacked by two vigilantes who planted false incriminating data on his person. One of the vigilantes apparently threw red lightning at him and his bodyguards.", Tim went on.

"Red lightning? So it was Garth." Nightwing nodded.

"Garth and his partner of two years, 'The Doctor' who goes by the name of 'Paul Briar'. Now compare this CCTV image to that man on the file. Paul Briar is really Clyde Banks, the lead scientist on 'The Coming World Project' with Susan Davies being his partner on the project and Lee Bridge was the security liaison between them,the government and whoever else was interested in what they were doing." Robin finished with a smile as he concluded his findings.

Nightwing stroked his chin, "You sure are on Batman's level on being a detective." he complimented. He leaned turned to the young boy beside him, "There is one thing I don't quite understand. Why was Clyde hunting Lee Bridge?" he concerned.

Tim spoke up, "That's the thing. Garth told Batgirl that 'Paul Briar' was in The Royal Marines and was after Lee Bridge because he apparently killed his family, but Clyde never had a real family. His parents died under mysterious circumstances and he never had any brothers, sisters or next of kin. It was just him and If I can assume one thing it's that he was unhealthily committed to his work."

"So this T.C.W.P., what happened to it?", Nightwing now span his seat around and leaned forwards towards Robin.

Robin continued, "It fell apart when their 'Class A Candidate' aka 'INDRA' vanished and all the older children escaped from the facility. Clyde Banks went insane as his life's work crumbled, Lee Banks turned to a life of crime by using his contacts to establish a foot hold in London. Susan Davies however? She took in young clueless five year old."

"Garth." Nightwing Determined.

"Precisely."

Nightwing stood up from his chair and walked to the exit of the room. The metal door retracted into the wall and Dick turned to his little brother, "Don't say a word about this to anyone other than Batgirl and I, I'll call her to the cave and see where we should go from here. Inform Garth that he has the day off from training the team, Nightwing's orders.",Tim listened to the orders and followed them.

 _ **Gotham City: Sunday, 16:27**_

After surprisingly hearing that he was given the day off from training the next generation of the team he didn't quite know what to do with himself. He couldn't hang out with Barbara as Nightwing called her in on some 'Bat Business' and after the morning the two had it was probably a good idea to have a bit of distance. He couldn't go and see Artemis because, well, she's in Metropolis and he hasn't heard from her since last night and he didn't really know what to say to her. So instead he spent the day adventuring around a very rare sunny Gotham, the sights of the Gothic city in the sunshine had an odd beauty to it like it was owning up to it's faults but opening itself up for everyone to see.

After a couple hours of wandering he found himself in the rough side of Gotham where he used to live with his father. Garth decided that he should go and visit his father despite seeing him the day before. He stood before the entrance of the rundown apartment noticing that the lock of the door was hanging from the hinges. The electric man barged past the door and ran into the living room and then the kitchen as he searched for his father.

Garth's legs gave out as he saw the hellish sight. His father was sat against the wall, pale skinned, mouth agape, bloody throat , red hands and a bottle of rum shattered across the ground. Garth stumbled forward to the pale skinned man and reached his hand towards his red neck to check for a pulse. Nothing.

"No no no no no... No! Dad! Come on wake up!" he screamed. The lifeless body fell into the electric man's arms as he was pulled into his embrace. The blood leaking from the man's neck covered Garth's white shirt, he reached his hand over the mans neck and attempted to stop the blood despite knowing it was pointless.

"Come on... Wake up... I left you I know... But don't leave me..." He sobbed as his father lay cold in his arms. Garth looked over to the bottle of rum on the floor and his gaze turned to the cuts on his father's wrist, he wiped the red liquid from his fathers forearm to see the letters 'T.C.W.P' sliced across the scrawny arm. Garth had seen some unsightly things in his life but this was the one that formed bile in the back of his throat... His father's throat slit and his arms slashed. Garth stumbled to his feet and vomited into the kitchen sink, the smell filling the room was something else.

"FUCK!" he shrieked as he began booting the nearest cupboard and forcing his fists into the refrigerator one punch after another. He managed to reduce a portion of his anger but he still collapsed to his knees falling into the pool of blood as tears began flooding his face.

He eventually managed to make sense of his thoughts in his mind as he blankly stared at his dad. He took out his phone and clicked the name at the top of the list, Artemis. The line connected but Artemis' phone rang and rang, she didn't answer at it. In anger Garth swiped his hand across the kitchen counter making everything that sat on the surface fly across the hall as he screamed in frustration. Garth's wiped the bloody screen of his phone and repeatedly forced his finger down onto it so that it selected 'Babs'.

The redhead's voiced appeared from the other end of the phone, "Hello?" she answered.

Garth couldn't form his words, all he could manage were stammers.

"Garth? Garth, what's wrong? Talk to me... Is it Artemis?" she questioned with a concerned tone.

Garth's voice croaked down the phone, "N-no... Dad... He's..." He let out a wail as he began to sob.

"Your dad? Talk to me Garth, breath in and focus on your words." she advised.

The electric man took in a deep breath and focus on to what he wanted to say, "My pops... He's been... He's been murdered." he cried out.

"Oh my god... Me and Nightwing will be-", The redhead was cut off when the dark haired man threw his phone against the wall shattering it.

He looked over to the lifeless parent and it was at that moment when he promised to kill whoever did this to the man who raised him.


	11. Chapter 11: Head Over Heels

**Chapter 11: Head Over Heels**

 _ **Mt. Justice: Monday, 10:05**_

"I heard what happened... How is he?!" a worried voice exclaimed as the speaker ran up to Nightwing.

"He's not good Artemis. We've managed to keep him calm for now but he's in shock. As soon as he gets the chance to leave here he's going to do something stupid..." Nightwing sighed as he leaned against the wall in the hallway.

"Has he said anything? About who might have done it?" she questioned with a hurried tone.

"We have our suspicions on who the killer might be but at the same time Mr Davies owed a lot of money to a lot of bad people." Dick worried.

"Who is it you think did it?" she asked as she folded her arms, eagerly waiting a reply.

"If I tell you, you cannot under any circumstances talk about it with Garth. Do you understand?" he insisted with a serious tone. Artemis raised a brow, "Dick, who do you take me for?" she sassed.

Nightwing took a deep breath and folded his arms to begin his short lecture, "Clyde Banks. He has history with Garth and his family. He was the lead scientist on a project that mutated orphaned and abandoned babies and children with the meta gene. Garth's mother worked alongside him and the project ended very abruptly. Clyde's life work crumbled to pieces and he became an insane wanted man otherwise known as 'The Doctor', the man who Garth partnered with for two years. I haven't been able to link Mr Davies to the project so maybe he's trying to send Garth a message. A vile message."

"What does he look like Dick? Describe him to me. Make sure you don't miss any details." she grumbled.

"You won't need many details. Red eyes. White hair, Greased back, medium length. six foot two. Every picture of him shows him wearing an all black suit." Nightwing informed.

"Dick. That monster attacked me in my dorm room... He got into my mind. He showed me my greatest losses and my biggest fears, he messed with my mind so much I tried to kill myself. If I didn't snap out of it I would be lying on the sidewalk right now. We need to make sure he doesn't get to Garth, he wants him for something and I won't allow him to hurt him anymore."

"You're right, he can't get to Garth. Go find Tim and tell him everything that happened." Dick ordered, Artemis raised an eyebrow once more.

"He might be young but I'll admit he's a better detective than I am, he's as good as Batman. That's why he's on this investigation with me." Dick smiled as he felt proud of his younger brother.

Artemis nodded and began to walk past Nightwing. "You're going the wrong way..." He said with confusion. Artemis didn't turn around to reply, "I'm going to see Garth first." she informed. Nightwing wasn't brave enough to tell her not to.

Artemis made her way to the door of Garth's room and gave it a light knock.

"Garth... It's me..."

He didn't reply.

Artemis moved her mouth closer to the door.

"Babe, please open up..."

Again No reply; but she heard a shuffle on the other side of the door as if Garth was near it.

"Are you seriously going to make me use my stern voice? I'll sit here all day if I have to." she declared. The door retracted into the side of the wall and Artemis was met with a pale, exhausted and ill-looking Garth, his eyes were puffed and bloodshot. Her lip quivered and her heart broke, she never thought she'd see him like this... The Garth she remembered was happy, funny and full of life. Not this. Garth tried to let a word escape his mouth but nothing was coming out, his voice was coarse and broken. The archer grabbed Garth and pulled him into her, wrapping her one arm round his back and using her spare hand to bring his head onto her shoulders. Garth began to sob in her arms... "Why?... Why him?!" he choked.

Artemis chest sunk, "Garth..." she mumbled.

"He was a good man... as good a man as any... why him?" he bawled, Artemis began to feel the dampness of his tears on her right shoulder. Garth tried to pull away from the archers arms but she refused to let go, "I'm going to help you through this. I won't let you go through this alone... I'm here for you. I will always be here for you." She whispered. Garth felt sick to the stomach as she spoke those words, He didn't deserve her. She let go of Garth and placed the palms of her hands on either side of his cheeks and looked into his eyes with a face of compassion and her eyes filled with determination, "Listen to me. We are going to find out who did this and bring them to justice, Nightwing and Robin are putting all of there effort into this. We will find him." she proclaimed.

The electric man put his left hand on top of Artemis' right one and gently removed her palm from his cheeks, "If anyone is going to bring the killer in, It's going to be me." He answered.

Artemis furrowed her brow, "Then accept our help this time. Don't you dare go running off on your own again... I can't lose you again..." she whispered. The archer was took by surprise when Garth threw and arm around her waist and pulled her into a long and intense kiss, it was as if he was finally satisfying his starvation. She then heard a whisper into her ear, "I won't run." he promised.

 _Nearly five long weeks passed and Clyde Banks AKA 'The Doctor' hadn't reappeared. The team expected him to show up during the funeral to disturb Garth's goodbye to his father but he didn't show. The trail on the red-eyed demon was growing colder and colder with each passing day and Garth was getting frustrated, Nightwing was only sharing a small amount of details about the killer. He believed if he told the electric man everything that they had learned about Clyde Banks and his history with Garth's mother he would go A.W.O.L , Dick owed it to Garth to make sure he doesn't do something stupid like abandon his friends again or try to hunt down The Doctor by himself, he'd get himself killed._

 _ **Gotham City: Thursday, 10:05**_

Artemis sat at the diner booth waiting for her friends to appear, It's been a long time since the girls had a get together but Artemis was beginning to wonder if she had the wrong time... or day. Five minutes or so later two redheads appeared to the side of the booth, one wore a red hair band, a cute pink blouse and a white skirt while the other redhead had her darker hair draped behind her shoulders and a blue sweater with a wide neck allowing her to show off her left shoulder. Megan and Barbara shuffled into the green diner booth and greeted their blonde haired friend. A waiter came along and took the three girls orders.

"Shouldn't we have waited for Raquel and Zee?" Artemis asked with concern.

"They said that they'd be here pretty late and to order without them and they'll order when they get here." Megan informed.

"I haven't seen those two in quite a while..." Artemis sighed, "How are Raquel and her boyfriend doing?" she asked.

"As far as I can tell they are head over heels for each other, It's so cute!" Megan squealed

"Speaking of head over heels for each other, how are you and Lagoon Boy? You two are uhh... adorable together!" Artemis smiled. The Martians face lit up, "I know! It's as if we were made for each other! He calls me this cute pet name, 'Angel Fish', and every time he says 'Neptune's Beard' my heart melts!" The grin on the Martians face was even wider now. After hearing Megan gushing about her relationship Barbara and Artemis both slyly shrugged their shoulders to each other, They both preferred her with Conner.

The waiter now came to the table with plates two plates of stacked pancakes for Megan and Barbara while Artemis was handed a cooked breakfast. They thanked the waiter and she went on to the next table.

Once Megan swallowed her first bite of her food she curiously asked Artemis, "Since you asked me about La'gaan... How are you and Garth doing?"

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to!" she quickly added in fear of Artemis snapping back.

Artemis let out a quick snort and smiled, "Garth and I? That's a pretty hard question... It's going good, well, as it good as it can be. After his dad died he's just been full of anger, I knew he changed when he was away but sometimes it feels like he's another person. He is still a romantic at heart though, the other day he took me to the park and we had a picnic under the sun, it was adorable."

"Oh...So are you two officially together now?" Barbara asked inquisitively.

"Hmm." The archer pondered. "I wouldn't say it's official but we are kind of 'together'? we haven't really had time to really pursue a relationship you know? We've mostly been going on dates since I've been busy finishing my first year at M.U. and he's been busy training the team and going on missions with them. We haven't even said 'I love you.' to each other yet..." she pointed out.

Barbara furrowed her brows, "Do you love him?" she asked.

Megan piped up "Ooh share! do you?" she beamed.

A grin appeared on the archer's face and her cheeks blushed as she cut into the food on her plate. The two redheads looked at each other with open mouths and happy faces.

A voice appeared from behind the booth as the speaker made their way towards them,"What are you guys so happy about?"

"ZEE!" Artemis beamed as she climbed from the booth and hugged her old friend

"It's good to see you Arty!" the black haired girl smiled. Beside her was Raquel AKA 'Rocket'.

"Hey girl!" Raquel addressed the blonde before her as the two gave each other a hug.

"Now, share all the gossip that we've missed" Raquel sassed as she and Zatanna sat down in the free space beside Artemis.

The martian pointed a finger in the air as she recalled to the gossip to herself, "Well... Me and La'gaan are all 'head over heels' and in a happy relationship. Artemis and Garth are together but not together because Artemis thinks they should take it slow even though she basically admitted she loved him." she echoed.

Zatanna nudged her arm into Artemis' shoulder, "I'm happy for you Artemis, If only Dick and I weren't so busy, we could go on double dates so I can finally meet the man you won't stop talking about." she joked.

"You and Dick?" Artemis and Barbara questioned.

"Since last week." Zatanna smiled with a giggle.

The black haired girl put her elbows on the table and leaned towards the bat opposite her, she gave a suspicious grin, "You've been pretty silent during this whole relationship discussion... You must be interested in someone, hmm?" she chuckled.

Barbara blushed and the four girls around her all let out gasps and giggles.

"WHO?!" they all loudly interrogated.

Barbara sat further back into her seat and waved her to hands in front of her, "It's nobody you know don't worry about it!" she tried to brush off the interest of the topic and then tried to talk about Gotham's current weather.

"Nuh uh Girl you tell us who." Raquel demanded.

"I want to know who has finally captured the bat." Artemis teased.

"I bet he's super hot." Zatanna fantasized.

"Alright fine, I'll share" the redhead laughed, "But I won't say his name." she added despite the sighs of disappointment from her friends.

"Go right ahead girl, the floor is yours!" Raquel smiled.

"I uh don't really know where to begin. I suppose I really started liking this guy in Gotham Academy..."

"Oooo a high school crush!" the martian interrupted. "Sorry... Carry on..." she added.

"Thanks Meg. We got pretty close during the final months of G.A. but after he left we didn't talk at all. I stumbled across him on Social Media and now we've been talking non-stop..." Barbara's face was blushing even more and was trying to not meet the gaze of the smiling faces of her friends.

"...And?" Zatanna chimed in this time.

"We went out to a club together. We got drunk, danced a lot and we teased each other..."

"No way... You didn't" Raquel said in surprise.

"...My place was closer than his and we were out of money for a taxi but he wanted to make sure I got home safely anyway. I brought him up to my apartment and one thing lead to another and I woke up with him next to me." She smiled.

"I did not expect you to be like that Babs!" Zatanna laughed.

"Yeah, she's almost on your level!" Raquel bantered.

"How was the morning after?" Megan beamed.

"It was amazing Megan. I thought I'd be cheeky and wear just my underwear and his white shirt which was way too big for me, My plan worked and he stumbled out of my room shirtless." she giggled.

"Was he ripped?" Raquel swooned.

"Very." Barbara smirked.

"Do you know what the first thing Ga...he said to me in the morning was?" she asked with a chuckle.

The four girls were waiting to hear what Barbara had to say, if her laughter was any signal it must have been pretty stupid.

"Do you have any painkillers?" she cackled after mocking a deep voice. The four girls burst into laughter and Artemis was in tears of laughter.

"You naughty woman! You must have had your way with him!" Zattana cried out.

"I gave him the night of his life" Barbara joked.

"I can't believe what he said, 'Do you have any painkillers' that sounds just like something Garth would do!" Artemis laughed as she wiped her wet eyes. The redhead felt a sharp pain pierce her chest, she got so immersed with her story that she forgot that she was with Artemis. Barbara still felt dirty about what she and Garth had done but a part of her didn't regret it, she was just happy she spent the night and the morning with the man she was in love with.

"He's a bit more stupid and silly than Garth is but he's so cute." Barbara professed as she maintained the smile on her face.

"So the morning after was a good one?" Megan questioned.

"The best." Barbara confirmed.

The four girls spent the next hour catching up about Zatanna and Raquels Justice League training, Artemis' University life, Barbara's 'Bat Antics' as well as how alcohol effects Megan. The girls parted ways and Artemis promised to keep in touch with them all the best she can. She was happy that things have finally been moving forward in her life.

 _ **Gotham City: Thursday, 13:26**_

Barbara opened the door to her apartment with her phone to her ear, "You've found a lead?" she asked down the phone as she locked the door behind her. The redhead dropped her bag underneath the coat rack and reached into it, taking out a paper bag.

"It's better than nothing Dick. Yeah, get Tim to double check it again." she advised. Barbara kicked off her shoes and scooted them next to her bag. "He's training with Garth right now? How's his lesson going?"

The redhead let out a snort, "He put Garth on his ass? Take a picture for me if he does it again Dick!" she smirked.

"Yeah alright, I'll be round later I just have some things to do first. Will do, bye Grayson.", Barbara smiled as she hung up the phone and placed it onto the kitchen counter alongside her apartment keys and the spare coins she emptied from her pocket. Barbara dropped the paper bag to the floor and planted her hands onto the counter to support as she felt a sensation in her stomach, The redhead quickly covered her left hand over her mouth, dropped the paper bag and ran to her bathroom. She stumbled past the door and leaned over the toilet and vomited the greasy Diner food into the pan as she pulled her hair back, thankfully keeping it safe. Barbara finished releasing her breakfast and was getting more and more worried about her health. Once she had cleaned the toilet, washed her hands and face she made her way to the the living room and picked up the paper bag from the floor, she opened the bag and took out a 3 small boxes and looked hesitantly them and walked back into the bathroom.

She sat on the toilet seat and stared blankly at the results of the tests in her hands, "No... That can't be right. Why?...", She knew she was late but pregnant? Each one of the tests told her the same thing, she was undoubtedly pregnant. She knew who the father is and Barbara never felt so dense, stupid, foolish and idiotic all at once. They were so caught up in the moment they must have forgot to use protection and they still thought it was a good idea for Garth to release inside her.

"How could you be so fucking stupid Barbara... You stupid... Stupid idiot." she mumbled to herself.

"Everything couldn't have gone smoothly could it?", The beautiful redhead removed herself from the bathroom and stormed over to her bedroom and collapsed onto her bed. As her eyes began to glisten she looked over to the picture on her bedside table and picked it up, she looked at the picture with a smile, "Easier times..." she mumbled. She sat on her bed for an hour with millions of thoughts running through her head, she had to think about how she was going to tell Garth. She couldn't be any more scared.


	12. Chapter 12: That's Why

_**Chapter 12: That's Why**_

 _ **Mt. Justice: Friday: 11:00**_

With a flash of light and announcement across the cave Garth appeared at the headquarters of the young heroes and walked towards the training area. As he walked into the battle simulation ring he saw Robin and Wondergirl sparring with Blue Beetle, Beast Boy and Lagoon Boy watching from the sides. Robin was ducking and dodger the amazon's powerful strikes and tagging her with his staff every chance he could whereas The young heroine mixed up her fighting style between offensive and defensive in quick succession giving Robin very few openings.

Robin managed to sweep Wondergirls legs from underneath her after striking her stomach but she recovered and pulling out her lasso she tied up the boy wonder and dropped him to the floor. Garth began to applaud the now finished sparring session, "I know I'm no Wonderwoman or Batman but I'm so taking some credit for that!" he cheered.

Robin and Wondergirl shook hands and the five young heroes made their way to their teacher with Beast Boy carrying a black and red box. Garth had a concerned look on his face, this was either one of their pranks or some mocking gift.

"We all decided you need some new clothes so we all chipped in and had this made for you!" Cassie smiled.

"I'm pretty sure the measurements are correct it should fit you perfectly Garth." Robin confirmed.

The dark haired man to the box from the Garfield's hands and sat on the floor like a child on Christmas morning. He began to unwrap the bow that he assumed Cassie had placed around it and lifted the box to the lid and removed the wrapping paper covering the present inside. A smile appeared across Garth's face, "You really think I need more dark clothes?" he joked.

"Just take it out the box already teach'!" Beast Boy beamed.

Garth let out a chuckle and pulled the black material from the box and stood up. The young heroes had put together a new suit for Garth.

"We got tired of you running around in your jeans and hoodie during missions so we thought you'd appreciate this" Jaime prattled.

In Garth's hands was a black jumpsuit, much like Nightwing's. It was a deep black with with bullet proof padding across the chest, shoulders, thighs, lower legs and at the back. A red Lightning bolt outlined with running down from the right shoulder and ending just under his left knee. Wrapped round his waist was a yellow belt with another lightning bolt placed at the center. This time however Garth's costume didn't have a full cowl, in fact the box had no head wear inside it.

"If you're looking for a hat or a helmet we didn't make one." La'gaan quipped.

"We know how much you love that black cap you wear for whatever reason so we thought we'd let you keep it" Wondergirl jested and turned to Robin as if motioning him to give Garth something.

"Nightwing told me to give you this, he said they were your goggles from before." Robin assured as he passed the black goggles over to the dark haired man. Garth let out a sigh a pained smile and took hold of the goggles. He never thought of what happened to his old suit and he sure as hell thought he'd never see it again so seeing a part of it now allowed him to remember the first time he tried on his 'Volt' costume, a memory he locked away for a long time.

The electric man's eyes glistened and his gaze moved towards the five young heroes stood before him, "You all get an A" he smiled.

"We were getting graded?!" Jaime gasped.

 _ **Metropolis: Friday: 19:35**_

Sat staring at her computer Artemis sighs to herself and plants her forehead onto the desk, she has two days to finish her final assignment and she can't seem to figure out what to write for the last page. Artemis rolls her head so that she can see the clock on her bedside, it's 19:37 and she still hasn't ate but she knows if she gets sidetracked by anything she won't write any more tonight.

A knock appeared from the other side of her door, "Great." she sighed.

The Archer stood up from her chair and opened her door to the sight of a well groomed man stood before her. He had his dark hair swept back and his beard trimmed but still visible, He wore a bright white buttoned shirt and a grey suit jacket covering his upper body and suit pants covering his legs which led to brown brogue shoes. The handsome man also seemed to have one of his arms placed behind his back.

"Garth?" she asked with surprise

"Hey beautiful." He smiled as a bouquet of roses appeared from behind his back.

To say Artemis was surprised would be an understatement, ever since Garth has been back she hasn't once seen him dressed up for anything. It has always been hoodies, jackets, ripped jeans and his black cap, so to her this sure was a treat. She took the roses from the handsome man's hands and pecked him on the cheek, "Thanks babe." she giggled and motioned for him to enter her room, "So what's the occasion?" she asked with a smirk as she placed the roses onto her desk.

Garth walked over to the blonde and wrapped his arms around her waist and planted a kiss onto her soft lips, "I am taking you to dinner." he said in a husky voice.

"Oh really?" she cheekily asked.

"Yeah babe, really." he smirked.

"I do have an assignment over there that is calling me to finish it you know." she teased with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you telling me you'd rather spend your night doing an assignment than go to a five-star restaurant? I bet you haven't even eaten yet." he said matter-of-factly.

"Five...Star...Restaurant...?" she mumbled.

"Five star restaurant." The electric man confirmed.

"I don't have clothes for a five star restaurant!" she fussed as she gave the dark haired man a few light slaps onto his shoulders. Garth let her fuss about her clothes for a few more moments as he went back to her door and pulled out a bag from the hallway and passed it to the blonde haired girl, "Babe, here."

Artemis' brow furrowed as she took the bag from his hands, "You know I don't do charity right?" she questioned.

"It's a gift Arty." he said as he waited for her reaction.

The Archer placed the bag on her bed and removed the contents of it to see green fabric flow down before her, "You haven't!" she gasped. Garth let out a chuckle in reply as Artemis sped towards the mirror on her wall, she placed the dress in front of her and her whole face lit up as she saw her reflection.

"You really shouldn't have..." she thanked.

"You're welcome Arty" he laughed, "You better start getting ready, We have to be there in an hour..."

Artemis carefully laid the dress onto her bed and moved over to the handsome man stood in her room. She ran her finger up his chest and then cupped his chin with her index finger and thumb, "You can wait outside while I put this on." she winked with a smoky voice.

Garth stood outside Artemis' door and was given a few odd looks from her hallmates. Tyler walked up from the other end of the hall and saw Garth leaning against the wall in his grey suit, Tyler tried to annoy Garth as he walked past him to his dorm room "Going somewhere nice?" he asked with his intent clear

"Yeah." Garth said dismissively.

"You really are one for holding grudges aren't you?" Tyler sneered.

"Call it one of my characteristics, Is yours preying on girls who are clearly taken?" The electric man growled. Over the past three weeks Tyler had made multiple attempts to ask Artemis out and even tried to make moves on her while she was out with Ellie.

"Oh please, You're nothing but a common thug. I could get you banned from the campus you know." Tyler threatened.

"Oh no! Really?! How will Arty and I ever get past that barrier?" Garth mocked as he pretended to be upset. "Better go into that room of yours, unless you want round two?" Garth smirked as the college boy retreated into his dorm room.

"You can come in now Garth!" a muffled voice came through the walls after about ten minutes of Garth waiting.

Garth twisted the door handle and walked through the entrance of the room, Before him stood the personification of beauty. The emerald green silk dress tightly wrapped around her torso and waist as it then flowed like a waterfall down from her thighs towards the floor, the dress also had silver accents designed as a flower flowing down the right side of her body. The dress had a high neck which comfortably covered Artemis' throat with shoulder pads protruding over her collar only leaving her toned arms bare.

"Are you going to stare all day?" She blushed.

"You really are stunning." he complimented.

Artemis looked to the floor and internally blushed and mentally screamed to herself, "What is with him tonight?! Why is he treating me like a princess? Oh god he isn't going to propose is he? Stop jumping to conclusions Artemis, he's just treating you."

"I just got to put my makeup on, I won't be 10 minutes." She blushed.

 _ **Metropolis: Friday, 20:50**_

Garth parked his old his beaten up car about a five minute walk from the restaurant "Emperors". He didn't want Artemis to feel self concious stepping out of a crappy car in front of the 'Gotham Elite' who ate there. The dark haired man reached into the backseat and grabbed a black umbrella and popped it out in the air and then stepped out from the car. Garth walked around to the other side of his car and gave his hand to Artemis to help her from the car, she grabbed the lower parts of her dress and pulled it up a few inches so that it wouldn't get wet from a puddle.

Artemis looked at the man beside her who was sheltering her from the rain and her chest tightened, she quickly turned her gaze to the ground to watch out for any puddles.

"How did you even manage to get a reservation at Emperors? It only opened last week you know and there's an extremely long waiting list..." Artemis pondered as she linked an arm with the man beside her.

"Conner knows some big shot reporters from the Daily Planet who are friends with the manager here. I asked him for a favor and now here we are!" he grinned as the two pulled up to the ram packed restaurant.

"Hello and welcome to Emperors, May I take your name please?" the nasal sounding waiter asked ready to scan through a book of reservations.

"Mr Davies." Garth announced.

The waiter took a few moments and flicked between 2 or 3 pages, "Ah." he finished with.

"What is it?" Garth asked with caution.

"It seems your table has been merged with two other patrons, was you not told?" he asked.

"Is there any chance you could like separate the tables or something?" Garth asked with a furrowed brow as he began to feel irritated.

"This is a fine establishment sir, we would not cause such a scene. If you don't mind I would happily to take you to your seats quietly. It says here that they are waiting for you..." the waiter nervously announced.

The beautiful blonde lightly tapped Garth's shoulder, "Let's just go sit down, what could be the harm?" she smiled not wanting the electric man to get annoyed.

Garth sighed, "Fine, take us to our table bossman."

As Garth and Artemis walked into the busy yet quiet restaurant they heard a voice call out to them, breaking the restaurants calm atmosphere, "Artemis, Garth, over here!"

The two looked over to there reserved table to see a young black haired couple, Artemis turned to Garth and gave him an 'I told you so' smile and walked ahead.

"Hey Zee" Artemis' face lit up as the two girls gave each other a hug. "Nice suit Grayson." She then teased.

"You look absolutely beautiful Artemis." Zatanna complimented.

"You do look really nice" Dick chimed in.

The archer blushed, "Thanks, Garth actually got me this dress" she announced as her lips curved into a smile.

Garth now caught up to Artemis and smiled over to the younger patrons, "Dick Grayson, I haven't seen you for a few years." he recalled as he reached out and shook his hand.

"Not since Gotham Academy Prom if I recall correctly." Dick remarked. Zatanna gave a look to Dick and Artemis which asked 'Does he not know' to which they both silently responded 'No'.

Garth let out a chuckle, "Aw man that was a fun night." His attention turned to the raven haired girl beside him, "Sorry I don't believe we've met. I'm Garth. Garth Davies". Garth took her hand and gave it a light shake.

"You can call me Zatanna." she offered.

Garth pulled out a chair for Artemis as she took her seat opposite Dick and Garth took a seat opposite Zatanna.

There was a brief silence until Garth spoke up, "So... Dick what is it you do now?" He inquisitively asked. Dick looked up from the menu in his hands, "Oh me? I've recently got into some community work. I just moved to Bludhaven to do some social work there, help children get away from the streets and a life of crime... that sort of thing."

Garth gave a nod to Dick, "That's important work and I have nothing for respect for what you're doing Dick. I kinda do the same thing." he added

"Oh really?" The ex boy wonder questioned with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah man. I've got this small group of teenagers that I teach self defense to and they've got pretty damn good, they could put me on my ass that's for sure!" he chuckled.

Artemis and Zatanna were so confused by what was happening that they were having another silent conversation about who should butt in.

"So uh, how did you and Zatanna meet?" the electric man teased.

"Well...My father, who was quite the world renowned 'Magician' and Mr Wayne were pretty good friends and we met through them." the raven haired girl grinned over to the man beside her.

A new waiter came to the table and took the orders of the young four heroes and then brought the drinks to the table.

"-And that's how I met Garth" Artemis Chuckled as she sipped the lemonade from her glass.

"That's such a cute little High School moment!" Zatanna squealed and her gaze returned from Artemis to Garth.

"Speaking of High School. I hear you moved back to England the day after prom, have you even graduated?" Zatanna questioned with a furrowed brow. Artemis snorted and the lemonade she was drinking went up her nose as she laughed at Zatanna's question.

Garth snorted, "You know, I don't think I have..." he now began to frown to himself as he questioned his intelligence.

The first course of their food was now placed before the four young adults and they quickly tucked into the delicious food in front of them, they have never tasted something so divine. As the night progressed the friends joked about their lives and funny events that had happened to them and before they knew it they finished their fifth and final course and it was already Eleven O'clock.

The heroes were now stood underneath the shelter covering the entrance of the restaurant. A limo appeared before them and they began to say goodbye. Dick and Garth gave each other a firm handshake and a one armed hug. Garth then gave Zatanna's hand another light shake and thanked her for her company. Artemis gave Dick a hug with a quick peck on the cheek and then embraced Zatanna. The magician whispered into the blonds ear, "He's a cutey just be sure to keep him in line". The two finished their hug and the four partnered up and split ways.

Garth walked Artemis up to her apartment and the two stood there in front of the door.

"Thank you for tonight Garth. This has been amazing... You have been amazing..." she admitted as her face turned pink.

"And you look amazing..." He teased.

"I'm being serious here. Thank you." she purred, her eyebrows drawing together as she moved her lips towards Garth's and she raised herself onto the tips of her feet. Her lips brushed against his, it was warm and soft, it was filled with love. She retreated her lips from his and their eyes met. Artemis let out a nervous cough and reached for her keys from her bag and unlocked the door, "Do you want to come in for a moment?" she wondered out loud.

"Is there a correct answer for that?" he teased. Artemis let out a groan, "Oh just come in will you?" she commanded as she grabbed his hand pulling her into her room. Artemis pulled Garth and lead him over to sit on her bed, "I have something to show you..." She mumbled.

"Uhh Artemis?" Garth nervously said as Artemis walked over and bent down over to her desk reaching into a drawer. That skin tight dress was doing all kinds of things to Garth, poor man. Artemis found what she was looking for and walked over to Garth with an old letter in her hands. She unfolded the paper and held it out in front of Garth, It read:

 _"To my dear Arty,_

 _I have to thank you for so much. You really have made these past few months extremely special and I never expected that I would be so lucky to be able to spend even a day with you. You don't understand how nervous I was on my first day of school in Gotham Academy, especially when I had this beautiful Girl sitting behind me in a few of my classes (That girl being you, please don't attack some random girl) but that beautiful girl made my time here so special. You were there for me when I came to Mt. Justice crying like a baby. You were there for me when Wally was beating me to a bloody pulp. You were there for me in the hospital to make sure I knew you didn't blame me. You were always there for me. You helped me with my fear of heights now every time I'm somewhere high I just think of that moment we shared on the Ferris wheel. You have given me so many good memories, and I'm sorry that I have to leave you with this bad one._

 _I'm leaving Arty. I can't tell you where I'm going or what I'm doing because quite frankly I don't know myself. I don't even know how long I will be gone, It could be a few weeks, a couple of months... maybe even years but if I don't go then everyone that I love and care for could be in danger. I promised I would never hurt you, I guess if you don't understand then I have broken that promise._

 _Just remember this Artemis: I love you. I love you so much it hurts._

 _I've left you a present next to this letter. You don't have to accept it but if you do then you have made my dreams come true._

 _I'll come home. I love you,_

 _Garth x"_

"This letter left me with nothing but pain and I'm tired of remembering it. So..." Artemis took the paper and folded it once more. She then tore it in half, right down the center and then she did it again and again and again until it was nothing but shreds.

"Artemis..." Garth croaked as he worried for her.

"You did what you said Garth, You came home and I need to tell you something." her voice grew quiet.

"I love you. I love you so much it hurts and that's why..." the archer's voice crumbled. She now reached behind her neck and removed the necklace she wore and placed it and the ring that was attached onto it into the open palm of her hand.

"That's why I'm doing this." She announced with determination and a frown on her face.


	13. Chapter 13: Happiness

**Chapter 13: Happiness**

 _ **Metropolis: Friday, 23:33**_

"That's why I'm doing this."

Artemis raised one of Garth's hands a slid the metal into his open hand.

"You're giving it back to me?" Garth worried.

"Yeah..." she mumbled.

Garth stammered, "But... I... What?...Why?"

The Archer's lips curved into a smile, "Because when you think that we're ready, I want you to propose to me properly."

Garth's face lit up and he rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh thank god, for a moment I thought you was done with me..." He sighed in relief.

Artemis lowered herself to Garth's level and cupped his cheek, "Never." she purred as she moved in to for a kiss.

"I lov-" The electric man was cut off as his lips met with hers. This kiss was unlike the others they had previously shared together, this kiss was like the correct pieces of a puzzle finally finishing the picture. The Archer unintentionally pushed the dark haired man backwards onto the bed and let out a giggle as she fell on top of him.

"I know you do." Artemis teased as she planted her silky lips onto his, "Now help me take this dress off." she commanded. She didn't have to tell Garth twice, the two climbed up from the bed and the blonde turned away from him. The electric man unzipped the back of the dress and Artemis slowly took her arms out from the dress and its torso falling down in front of her. Garth's eye's turned to the muscular back of the girl in front of him, She was wearing no bra underneath her dress but he didn't care about that he was too busy noticing some cute dark freckles that formed across her shoulder blades. Artemis' arms wrapped across her naked chest as she looked over her shoulder, "Could you turn around please? I can feel your eyes on me babe. Getting out of this dress isn't very flattering you know..." she mumbled.

"Right, sorry" Garth chuckled.

In a moment or two he heard a light drop of clothing as the silk dress hit the floor and an eager smirk appeared on his face.

"You can turn around..." she whispered in a husky voice. The dark haired man looked over his shoulder and slowly turned to the beautiful blonde stood behind him. "Wow..." he spoke as his eyes widened, she was stood before him with her arms covered over her bare chest and the only clothing she now wore was the white thong she put on earlier (Anything else and her underwear would have shown through the silk dress).

"You are so beautiful Artemis." he mumbled. Artemis cheeks became a rosy red color, "You're making me look like an idiot Garth, take yours off..." she blushed. Garth let out a cheeky grin has he removed his suit jacket and threw it onto the bed, "I might need some help with that." he flirted. Artemis rolled her eyes but she was more that happy to oblige, she removed her arms from her chest exposing her breasts as she strutted over to the stunned man in front of her. The Archer grabbed the tie he wore down his chest and slowly pulled him into a lustful kiss, then pulling it from his neck and dropped it to the floor, not once removing her gaze from his. She then grabbed the top button of his shirt and teasingly began to unbutton the cloth placing a kiss onto his chest with each opening of the shirt. Once the final button was undone Garth let the shirt fall to the floor, Artemis' eyes scanned his body. It was scarred, more so than she had ever seen on anybody. Her worried gaze met with his as her fingers delicately ran across the scarred tissue, "What happened to you?" she croaked.

Garth let out his breath and lifted her chin with his finger, "A lot. But it doesn't matter now that I'm here with you..." he whispered as he yearned for her. Artemis gave a pained smile and looked down to the floor and she noticed the tattoo on Garth's arm, the Arrow with the Lightning bolt as the head, "Cute tattoo, she giggled." as she turned back to him. The Electric Man now wrapped his arms around the lower back of the beautiful blonde girl and pulled their bodies into one another, He could feel the heat from her body escape into his as their lips united once more. Shivers ran down her back, She needed him. Their soft lips repeatedly met as she loosened the belt secured around his waist and hastedly unbuttoned his pants. Garth kicked the clothing from his ankles and the shoes from his feet behind him as the blonde began to stroke his manhood. Artemis let out a groan as she felt his lips run down her neck as she slid the thong from between her lower half down her smooth thighs and onto the floor. As soon as Garth hear the feint sound of them hitting the floor he moved his hands onto the archer's lower body and picked her up from the ground and supported her with his hands on her ass.

Artemis let out a cute giggle, "My my, taking charge are we?" she teased as she wrapped her legs naked legs around his waits and her arms around his neck.

"Hope you don't mind." he smirked as he pinned her against the wall.

"Not. At. All." she purred.

Garth gave her a half smile and began to run his lips down her neck again. Artemis ran one of her hands through his dark brown hair and moaned as her body ached for him, would he just hurry up and take her? She let out a loud groan as he entered her, tingles ran through her body as her aching body was satisfied and she let out a giggle and wrapped her body around him even tighter.

"Something funny Arty?" he teased.

"I think Tyler may have heard that." she laughed. Garth let out a chuckle and picked up the pace. Artemis was breathless as she felt pleasure that had been starved from her run through her body, she tensed and she pushed herself up from his shoulders, "Oh my fucking god Garth!" she groaned.

A loud thumping came from the other side of the wall, "Shut up!" a muffled voice shouted from the other side of the thin walls.

Artemis hungrily stared into Garth's eyes, "Don't you dare stop." she ordered. Garth raised an eyebrow and removed himself from her, the blonde's eyebrows moved together and her lips quivered. The Electric Man gave her a flirtatious smile and moved her over to the bed and collapsed the two of them onto it. Artemis let out a giggle as she unwrapped her arms and legs from his body and moved a pillow underneath her back to position herself better. Artemis' body tightened as she felt him inside her once more. After a few minutes the room felt as if it was getting hotter for the two of them, Artemis could see sweat glisten across Garth's muscular build which just got her going more.

"Don't stop, please don't stop." she moaned as pleasure pulsated through her body. 'Is this actually happening?' She thought to herself. Garth felt her body contract around his shaft as her body quivered and became breathless.

"Did you just?..." Garth questioned.

"Yep." She confirmed with a breathy voice.

Garth leaned over the girl he loved and put his fists onto the bed to support his body above her as he quickened his thrusts, Artemis raised her head from the bed and began to combine her lips with his and entwining her tongue with his. A few moments passed and Garth withdrawed his tongue from hers, "Artemis I'm about to... Where do I..."

"I have an implant, don't worry..." she informed in between moans.

His thrusts quickened once more and his breathing grew heavier, Artemis felt his rod pump inside her and she tightly embraced the man above her. Garth removed himself from her sending one last quiver through her body and collapsed his naked chest onto her bare body.

The two led there silently for a while, breathless, too tired to speak. The Archer had her left arm around Garth's shoulders running her fingers up and down his arm as he had his head rested on her soft breasts.

"Artemis..." He whispered.

"Yeah babe?" she answered with a breathless voice.

"I love you." He announced, she was able to hear the smile on his face.

"I love you too Garth. I love you too..." she replied with happiness and content in her voice.

 _ **Metropolis: Saturday, 07:35**_

The sunlight sneaked through the curtains and struck a beam of light across Artemis' face, awakening her from her slumber. She raised her hand from Garth's chest and blocked the light from her eyes, as she removed the bed sheets from her naked body and planted her feet onto the floor. Artemis rubbed her eyes and let out a quiet yawn as she turned to the sight behind her, Garth led there peacefully with the bed sheets only covering his waist and his left leg. She had obviously hogged the covers all night. Artemis blushed and let out a little giggle as she recalled the previous night, she couldn't believe all of that happened. The Archer stood up from the bed and pulled the bed sheets over the exposed body of the man she loved and planted a kiss onto his forehead. She let out a gasp of surprise as she was pulled into his embrace by the sleeping man, "Don't go..." he mumbled in his slumber. A huge smile appeared across the blonde face as she whispered into his ear, "I'll be back babe, I love you". His arms loosened around her naked body and he rolled onto his right side while the love-struck Archer moved over to her wardrobe to get dressed.

Artemis left her apartment building and headed to the nearest cafe to purchase some hot drinks and breakfast for the two of them, she was trying to be as cute as possible; Like Barbara was in her story with her man, except Artemis didn't have her own kitchen so she had to improvise. The Archer let out a little giggle again, she had to talk to someone about what happened, she had to share her happiness so she took out her phone from her tight jeans and tapped onto her contact list.

"Hello?" a croaky voice grumbled.

"Hey Barbara!" Artemis beamed.

"Wow, you're happy for so early in the morning." the voice quietly teased.

"Sorry I can't help it! Did I wake you or did you just get in?" The Archer asked with a concerned voice.

"Neither, Arty. What's with the early call?" The redhead happily questioned.

"You'll never believe what happened last night." The blonde beamed.

"Garth took you out for dinner?" Barbara teased.

"Did Dick tell you?" Artemis asked.

"Nope, I'm a trained detective." The redhead chuckled, it was actually Zatanna who told her.

Artemis moved along the crosswalk inside a busy crowd as she made her way to the nearby bakery.

"Well yeah he did take me to dinner but something else happened..." she blushed.

"Too many options to pick just tell me." she groggily replied, Barbara obviously didn't get much sleep the night before.

"We uh... We had sex and told each other how we feel." she quickly spilled.

A sharp pain pierced Barbara's chest, Jealousy, Heartbreak. Whatever the the redhead was drinking sprayed out of her mouth in surprise, "Honestly, I didn't expect that one." she teased. Barbara's mouth began to water, her eyes widened and she quickly ran over to the bathroom to throw up.

"I didn't expect it either but one thing led to another and..." Artemis' grin faded as she heard odd noises coming from the speaker of her phone, "Barbara, are you okay? Are you throwing up?" she worried.

The redhead quickly finished up in the toilet and apologized, "Yeah sorry. Bad food from the night before I think." she lied, she knew what it was.

"Better that than morning sickness." Artemis joked.

The redhead's brow furrowed. _Does she know? She can't do. There's no way._

"Yeah... Good job I used protection." She falsely replied. "You did with too, right?" she wondered.

"Of course I did, I'm not an idiot." The Archer announced.

 _Ouch._

"Good point Arty. Anyway I gotta go, Batman is having us all over for breakfast. I'll speak to you soon and you can tell me more!" She beamed.

"Batman eats food? And is that really a good idea?" Artemis questioned.

"Contrary to popular belief and Well... I'm hungry..." Barbara chuckled.

"Fair enough, I'll speak to you later!" Artemis smiled.

Within the next ten minutes Artemis had picked up some pastries, cakes for later, a piping hot coffee and a tea to help with the exhaustion of last night. With her hands full she was dodging and weaving through the crowd trying to get back to Garth before he woke up, she didn't want him to wake up in an empty bed. A young man with his hood up bumped into the Archer knocking one of her cakes onto the floor, apologizing profusely as he picked up the brown paper bag for her and attempted to hand her a small but thick envelope, "Here you go miss. You dropped this as well." he nervously stated. Artemis looked into the young man's face, she could see fear in his eyes. He was scared of something.

"I don't think I dropped that." she answered, squinting her eyes.

"Please miss, I saw you drop it." He replied, practically begging her to take it. Artemis knew something was up, someone had obviously put him up to it. She took pity on the boy and took the envelope from her hands and he scurried away.

"Weird..." She muttered to herself as she entered her apartment complex.

She entered her room to see that Garth was still peacefully asleep. She threw the brown envelope onto her desk, 'I'll deal with that later' she thought to herself as she placed the pastries and the hot drinks onto the bedside table and began to gently nudge the sleeping man awake, "Garthy, wake up..." she softly whispered.

He didn't budge.

Artemis squinted her eyes at his challenge and she accepted it, "Garthy..." she whispered again but more vocally.

still nothing.

"Garth." she quickly announced with a raised voice snapping the man on the bed awake. Garth quickly shot his upper body against the wall and the lights flickered and a small hint of fear appeared on his face.

"Get away from me!" he growled.

Shock and worry ran across Artemis' body, "Garth... It's me, Arty." she announced. The Electric Man looked around the room and stared at her for a moment, "Right... sorry..." he mumbled as he slid back down into the bed.

"What was that?" she cautiously questioned.

"It's nothing..." he replied with a croaky voice. The blonde gave him her signature eyebrow raise, as if giving him no choice but to talk to her. The scarred man sighed as the Archer climbed into bed with him.

"I get nightmares. Bad ones. As if something is plaguing my mind..." he mumbled.

"What are they about?" Artemis asked as she leaned her head into his neck, running a finger up and down his chest.

"My mother, my father, the team... You." he spilled he placed his left arm around her shoulders, pulling her in.

"How long have you had these nightmares?" she wondered.

The dark haired man now tilted his cheek onto her soft golden locks. "Since I left for Coast City and came to Gotham so pretty much when I left England." he commented.

Artemis didn't quite know what to say, she wasn't good at comforting words or coming up with solutions for other peoples problems; The only thing she could really do was show support. The Archer moved her hand from Garth's chest and placed the palm of her hand onto his right cheek, bring his face towards her as she planted a tender kiss onto his soft lips. "They aren't real Babe. Whatever nightmares you are having about your family and friends aren't real. I understand you had a hellish time in London but you're home now. Leave all that pain behind for once." she implored as her gaze never left his.

A smile crept onto Garth's face as he leaned in for another warm kiss with the girl he loved. "Is that breakfast and Tea I smell?" he teased as his lips retreated from hers.

"I didn't know if you liked coffee but you like Tea, right? You're British" Artemis joked.

"I don't know if I should be offended or thankful" The dark haired man chuckled.

He attempted to reach over and grab one of the brown paper bags but he was stopped by Artemis as she grabbed his arm and positioned herself on top of his lap, "You know, I think I need to work up more of an appetite." she flirtatiously teased as she planted a flurry of kisses down his chest and began to removed her green crop top.

"Food can wait... Food can definitely wait." He stammered in surprise and excitement.


	14. Chapter 14: Junior

**Chapter 14: Junior**

 _ **Wayne Manor: Saturday, 09:00**_

The old butler placed the food in front of each person sat at the table in a delicate manner and nodding to the family as he moved to stand at the entrance of the dining room. The family tucked into their food silently until Bruce Wayne attempted to make small talk.

"So... Uh Dick, How's Zatanna?" He awkwardly asked, Small talk wasn't one of his strong suits.

Tim and Barbara snorted at the questioned and they both looked at Dick, waiting for his reply.

"She's good, we're good." Dick smirked. "Ah screw it with the small talk Bruce; Why are we really here Bruce? I never took you as someone who ate breakfast with his family." the ex boy wonder chuckled and the new Robin and the redhead turned to the billionaire at the end of the large table.

The Bat placed his cutlery onto his plate and placed his hands onto the table, "I know what you three are doing. You're searching for 'The Doctor' aren't you?" he sternly questioned.

"Yeah we are, do you know anything Bruce? Anything at all?" Barbara quickly chimed in as Dick glared over to her, this was supposed to be their problem without the help of the Justice League.

"As much as you do. Drop this hunt, He isn't your priority." He coldly insisted.

"He shouldn't be our priority? Bruce, he almost killed us two years ago and he killed Garth's father." Barbara disagreed with a raised voice. Tim carried on eating his food as the other three bickered.

"Barbara. You three don't stand a chance against him and for the sake of the you all this is now a Justice League matter." Bruce decided. "I'll be heading this investigation from this point on. When I find anything of use and if I need your help I will let you know. Speaking of which I should head down to the cave, Thank you for the food Alfred. " The Bat stood up from his table and walked out of the room leaving the three young heroes to their own devices.

"That could have went better." Dick declared.

The redhead gave a quick glare over to Dick, "You think?" she responded.

"It's probably good that he has the Justice League's attention now. Now he has the two teams hunting him." Tim pointed out as he swallowed the food in his mouth.

"The reason we didn't want them involved Tim is because it makes us look like we asked for their help, it makes us look weak." The Ex Boy Wonder explained as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

The redhead scooted her chair out from behind the expensive table and sighed, "I'm going to go talk to him." she announced.

"Good luck Babs, It's never worked for me." Dick joked.

The redhead left the room and turned the grandfather clock placed in his office and spun the hands of the clock to the time '10:47' which opened up the doorway to The Batcave. She moved down the chiseled staircase to see Bruce dressed in his costume with his cowl hanging behind his head. She could see the Batman persona across his face meaning it was going to be a lot harder to talk to him.

"Need something Batgirl?" He asked with a monotone voice.

"Yeah. Why do you think you can shut down one of our operations?" she snapped.

Bruce turned his body away from the monitors with all kinds of data plastered onto them and gave Barbara a serious look, "Because despite you and Nightwing not liking it, you report to me with matters of the team and you tried to hide it from me. So now I have to get involved." he retaliated

Bruce paused for a brief moment as he looked at the frown on her face, he then scanned her body, her posture and her facial expressions. "You're pregnant aren't you?" he questioned.

The Redhead was taken aback by Batman's sudden question, she wasn't ready for anybody to know. She wanted to tell the father first but what did she expect? she's stood before the worlds greatest detective.

Batman sighed, "Is it Richard's?" he softly spoke. Barbara shook her head. "Don't tell me it's his..." Batman complained.

Barbara quickly wiped a tear from her glistening eyes, "It's his... It's Garth's..." she mumbled.

"Are you keeping it?" Bruce cautiously asked as he walked over to her placing his hands on her shoulders.

"I uh... Yeah. I am..." she whispered. Bruce pulled the stammering redhead into his chest and began patting her hair, "I'm going to have to forbid you from going on patrol and missions, You know that right?" he cautioned. Barbara sniffled and took a deep breath, "I know that..."

"Does anybody other than me know?" Batman wondered.

"Only you..." She announced.

"He needs to know." The Dark Knight advised.

"I'm going to tell him soon, I just need to get everything sorted." she opened up.

"Good." Bruce and Barbara now pulled away from each other, "If you need anything Barbara, Anything at all let me know." He smiled. Barbara wasn't used to seeing Bruce like this, he was always stern and cold constantly building walls between people. It was one of the reasons Dick became Nightwing.

 _ **Metropolis: Saturday 15:46**_

Artemis and Garth spent most of the afternoon led in bed binge watching television and enjoying each others company. Neither of them truly expected they'd have a calm afternoon like they did today but they both enjoyed it as much as they could. Well, that was until Nightwing called Garth in for a mission.

Artemis led on top of her bed sheets in her yoga pants and a baggy blue shirt with a satisfied grin on her face, what a day she had. The Archer remembered what happened earlier, with the shifty young man handing her an envelope; Artemis grow curious about the envelope so she stood up from the bed and made her way over to her desk where the envelope sat. She reached over to the envelope and grasped it in her right hand and unsealed it with the other. She reached her hand into the package and pulled out a stack of photos, a frown appeared on her face, they were of Garth.

'They must be from his time in London', she thought to herself.

The first picture was Garth sat in the passenger seat of a car with a cigarette in his hand a bloodstain on his cheek. The second was of him surrounded by a bunch of thugs knocked out on the floor with him grasping the chest of one man with his fist pulled back gearing to throw a punch, Artemis took note of how bloody Garth's knuckles were, they were smothered in blood. The next picture took Artemis by surprise, it was a picture of the man Garth had beaten to a bloody pulp, it was so bad bile formed at the back of her throat. There were a multiple pictures of Garth being way too violent with the thugs of London but then a picture of just Garth appeared. The picture was of his back. He was leaning over the bloodstained sink with a collection of freshly open scars covering his body and a small pool of blood at his feet. Artemis' lips quivered and her breath escaped her as she dropped the pictures on the floor and took a step back to compose herself. Once she had found her bearings her attention shifted back to the pictures now on the floor. One photo in particular stood out to her. The image was of a naked backside of a redhead, it seemed like a familiar color of red to Artemis but as she picked the image up she noticed Garth was led on the bed in front of her. It seems like 'The Doctor' was right he did spend his time with other women.

A scowl appeared on her face as she began to collect all the pictures together, she saw multiple pictures of Garth and Barbara moving down the entertainment strip of of Gotham City. That's when she saw the last picture, one that crushed her heart, She saw her best friend and her boyfriend fucking. Garth was above Barbara with smiles across both of their faces. She tensed her grip around the the small but thick stack of photographs and threw them against the wall behind her letting out a shriek as she collapsed onto the floor with her head in her hands. Her eyes reluctantly removed from her lap as she looked over to the scattered, crumpled pictures on the floor once more, this time seeing writing on the back of a few of the images. She ordered the pictures and saw one word written on some of them:

"You Do Not Know The Real Garth Davies."

Her face grimaced, she didn't care if she was putting herself in harms way she wanted answers as to why she was being tortured like this. Artemis threw on some clothes and stormed over to the door slamming it against the wall as she opened it. That's when her gaze met his. The man in black.

 _ **Mt. Justice: Saturday, 20:10**_

The Bio-ship's door opened and the nine costumed heroes stepped down from the ramp and were greeted with a smile by Batgirl. Nightwing looked at his friend and gave her a sad smile, she had told him about her predicament and that she had decided to leave the team.

"Hey Batgirl! we could really have done with your helped today!" Beast Boy joked, "Nightwing got himself in trouble and Robin had to bail him out for a change." Lagoon Boy teasingly stated.

"Half true." Nightwing winked to the redheaded bat.

"Of course it is." she teased with a smirk.

At the back of the group in his black and red costume was 'Indra' AKA Garth Davies, the unsuspecting father of her child. Barbara's chest tightened as she felt butterflies in her stomach, there was no way she could prepare herself for this conversation. The redhead inhaled a deep breath through her nostrils and raised her voice, "Everyone, I have an announcement to make!" she clearly announced.

The group of heroes looked at each other and then at Nightwing who then turned his attention to Batgirl and the rest followed. Robin raised one of his eyebrows, suspicious of what she was going to say.

"I'm leaving the team...", Her voice as quieter now.

"What? Why?!" a multiple of combined voices cried out. Garth stood at the back of the group perplexed over his best friend's sudden announcement, he couldn't help but wonder what this was all about.

"It's um... It's my health." she answered with a fake smile.

"Why are you smiling?" Miss Martian questioned.

"We can help, right? We know the Justice League! I'm sure they have a super advanced medical site. You can use the Amazons purple ray if you need to!" Wondergirl exclaimed.

Barbara gave a real smile this time, she was happy about how much her team cared in fact her eyes began to glisten from her happiness. But as she looked over to Garth she saw his confused yet suspicious look, he hadn't said anything yet but she knew he knew she wasn't telling the whole truth.

"You guys don't need to worry, I'm not in any danger. I'll be back before you know it!" she beamed. The younger heroes gave each other more confused looks and then shrugged.

"This means we can have another party right?" Beast Boy cheered as he looked at Nightwing who again then looked at Batgirl for her permission.

"Sure, why not?" she smiled.

" Looks like we're having another party then! but no that Batgirl has made her announcement It's time to hit the showers team. I'm sure Miss Martian will cook up something nice as a reward for all your hard work this week." Nightwing chimed in. The Ex- Boy Wonder then looked over to Garth and gave him a downward nod signaling a 'good luck' to his friend. Garth lingered as his teammates walked off and made his way beside Batgirl as she watched the young heroes and her friends walk away.

"What is this really about Babs?", The Electric Man questioned as he took off his black cap and pulled his goggles up to his forehead.

"Garth, I'm..." The redhead paused as her throat croaked, her eyes glistened once more. Garth turned to his friend and pulled her into an embrace, he knew it was something serious. But what?

"Barbara, You know you can tell me anything. So what is it? What's got you like this?" he questioned with caring tone. The Redhead partially pulled out from his arms slowly and placed her hands onto his armored chest. She looked up and from his torso and looked into his eyes, she began to feel comfortable again, as if his eyes were magic. She took another deep breath and came out with it, "Garth... I'm pregnant." she stated.

Garth moved his gaze from the beautiful redhead's eyes and looked towards the ground and furrowed his brow. He then turned back to the girl in his arms and looked back into her eyes, "Is it Nightwing's? I saw the looks he was giving you a minute ago." he asked.

"It's not Nightwing's." she frowned, why does everyone think the baby is Dick's?

"It's yours, Garth. The baby is undoubtedly yours." she confirmed. The Electric Man's expression became stoic. Barbara couldn't tell what he was thinking and it was driving her insane, it felt like an eternity before he spoke another word.

"Fucking shit." He mumbled. "You're sure it's mine? And you're keeping it?" he added.

Barbara stepped back out from his arms somewhat annoyed. She knew he wouldn't be excited about it or happy but him asking if she was keeping it irritated her somehow, It felt as if wished their night together never happened.

"I'm one hundred percent sure that it is yours and yes I'm keeping it." she coldly stated, clearly showing her frustration with him. However, her demeanor suddenly changed as she saw the new expression on Garth's face. A smile had crept onto his lips as if he was genuinely happy which took the redhead by surprise.

"Are you... Are you smiling?!" she marveled.

The Electric Man's eyebrows raised as he began to laugh. The laugh was hearty and loud, he began to lean over and hold his stomach to try to contain it.

Garth eventually was able to calm down, he wiped away a tear from the laughter and he sighed.

"Ah fuck me... Something unexpected always throws my life off track. I'm used to it by now." he smirked.

Barbara tilted her head and squinted her eyes, "So you aren't mad at me? You're completely fine with being the father of my child." she questioned. Garth walked towards the beautiful redhead and grasped her hands with his, "Barbara, If I should be mad at anyone then I should be mad at myself. I caused this situation so I'll be damned if I take it out on you. And no I'm not completely fine with having a kid. I'm not even sure if I'm ready to be a father, I'm twenty for fuck sake so I don't know how you're feeling..." he confessed with a compassionate look as Barbara tightened her grip onto his hands, silently answering his indirect question. She was terrified and needed his support.

"...I just hope I'm a good dad to my child... Our child..." He smiled as he placed his left hand onto her stomach. Tears began to flood Barbara's eyes, this was not the reaction she was expecting. She expected lots of cursing, a shouting match and a lot of stuff thrown against the wall, not him being compassionate and making her fall even harder for him. God did she despise how he did that to her.

"What about Artemis?" Barbara quickly questioned as she wiped the tears with her gauntlets.

Garth let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck, "Today and yesterday were some of the best days that I've had in years. We told each other we love each other Babs..." he croaked.

"...I'm sorry" Barbara crumbled, she couldn't hold back the waterfalls from her eyes.

"Don't be. Artemis deserves someone better than me but I'm going to talk to her about all of this soon. She'll either beat me to a bloody pulp and never speak to me again or by some divine power she'll forgive me... Fuck if I know." he mumbled.

Barbara managed to stop the tears, sighed through her nose and let go of his hand, "Didn't Nightwing say that it's time to hit the showers?" she sniffled with a quick laugh.

Garth snorted, "You're right, This costume really needs some air filters..." he joked.

The Electric Man walked past The Batgirl and as he walked through the doorway he turned back towards he and smiled, "We'll get through this Babs. You, Me and Garth Junior" he teased.

"We are so not calling it that." she smirked.

 _ **Gotham City: Saturday, 21:14**_

Barbara climbed the stairs rundown stairs of the Gotham apartment building and inserted her key into the lock. She pulled the door towards her, twisted the kid and thrusted her shoulder against the wood, "The landlord really needed to fix this door" she muttered to herself. Once she had entered her apartment she pushed the door shut and threw her brown trench coat onto the coat hanger and walked into the kitchen and began to make herself a cup of coffee.

"I'll have mine black, please.", A gravelly voice announced from the living room. The redhead quickly grabbed a sharp knife from the draw and turned towards the couch where a man dressed in black comfortably sat.

"You." The Redhead sneered as she brandished the knife in his direction.

"Nice to see you again... ugh what was your name again? Betty? Beatrice?" he questioned.

"You know damn well what my name is." she grumbled.

"Ah, it's all coming back to me now. Batgirl! Also known as Barbara Gordon. The only daughter of Commissioner Gordon and you're also the sibling to a one 'James Gordon Jr' the psychopathic killer with no empathy." he laughed.

Barbara began to slowly walk out of the kitchen area towards the entrance of her apartment, "You know all of that yet you still don't know who you're dealing with." she threatened, knife still pointing towards him. Within a second Barbara found herself thrown against the wall with a hand gripped tightly around her wrist, forcing her to drop the knife and another hand wrapped around her soft throat. Barbara attempted to throw a punch with her free left hand but as her clenched fist made it halfway towards it's target her arm went limp.

"I know exactly who I'm dealing with. I'm dealing with a frightened little girl. A frightened little girl who can't have what she wants. It's been quite funny watching Garth's little adventures all this time, but oh my was it a plot twist when he jumped into bed and impregnated a dirty bitch like you. It was quite hilarious but do you wanna know what really got me dying of laughter? Go on! Ask me what made me laugh." he bellowed, commanding her to answer his question as his grip tightened around her throat.

"Wh-What made... You... La-Laugh?" she answered as she struggled to breath let alone speak.

"He thought he could be happy." he chuckled as he loosened his grip around her throat and let go of her wrist. With his free hand he began to gently run his palm across her stomach, "You can't make him happy. This thing inside of you can't make him happy. The boy wasn't raised to be happy, He was raised to be the opposite." he seethed to himself.

"Fuck... You." Barbara growled.

"This'll hurt you. A lot. Don't worry though Betty, If you don't survive just know I have a good history with orphaned children." The Red-Eyed Demon exasperated as he placed two fingers onto the redheads forehead.


	15. Chapter 15: Into The Woods

**Chapter 15: Into The Woods**

 _ **Mt. Justice: Monday, 15:20**_

"It's been two days Nightwing! How have we not found them yet for fuck sake?!" the gravelly voice beckoned.

The Ex-Boy Wonder rubbed his temples as he listened to his friend assault his ears after hearing the news that him and The Justice League have found zero leads as to where Barbara and Artemis may be. The stress of the situation has broken down communication between everyone as they try there hardest to find their partners and friends.

"I've told you again and again, We have no leads as to where they might be. So what do you expect from me?" Nightwing sneered. "Do you think you're the only one who wants them back? I've known Barbara a hell of a long time and Artemis is one of my dearest friends." Nightwing sighed as he leaned forward and went over everything they had pulled from the two crime scenes. Including the pictures that were scattered across Artemis' floor.

"Of course I don't. It's just...I don't know what to do, there is no way that I can help. Fuck if I know anything about crime scenes or evidence." Garth complained as he sat against the wall of the cave's command room.

"You sure seem to know how to create them and get people in trouble though, Dont you?" Dick provoked. Garth raised an eyebrow towards his teammate, "What do you mean?" he retorted.

"If it wasn't for you those girls wouldn't be in this situation. Maybe we would have been better off if we never..." Dick thought twice about finishing his sentence and decided it would be better off leaving it there, he was too honest with his thoughts sometimes.

"If you never what? Go on Batboy finish your sentence." Garth ordered as he stood to his feet. Nightwing raised himself from his chair and turned towards his friend, "Maybe we would have been better off if we never let you join the team in the first place. Artemis wouldn't have been heartbroken and depressed for two whole years and would have grown as a person instead of you destroying any progress that she had made since joining the team-"

"You need to stop talking before your jaw comes off." Garth angrily interrupted.

Nightwing began to walk forward with clenched fists and ignored what his old friend said, "Now let's talk about your situation with Barbara shall we? You manipulated her like you manipulate everyone. You strung her along with your good person routine, making her think that you're gods gift when in fact you are nothing but some scared abandoned child who-"

Garth ran towards Dick and tackled him, pinning him against the wall. Nightwing purposefully let him. "You don't know anything about me and Barbara!" The Electric Man spat.

"Oh please. You've been stringing her along all this time, she's your backup isn't she? If things don't work out between you and Artemis at least you have her shoulder to cry on. That's the thing with people like you. The only person who matters is yourself." Dick goaded.

"You don't know shit about me, Grayson." Garth retaliated. Underneath his mask Nightwing raised a confused expression, "How did you figure it out?" he questioned with a smirk.

"Contrary to popular belief I'm not a damned idiot. You expect me to believe that rich boy 'Dick Grayson' just so happens to be friends with Artemis, Zatanna and Batgirl? That can't be coincidental." Garth revealed.

"I'll give it to you, you're the first person to figure it out." Dick chuckled, "Now get the hell off me sparky." Nightwing ordered. Garth removed his forearm from across his teammates chest and made his way out of the room, "If you find anything... Let me know." he insisted.

"Will do." Nightwing sassed.

 _ **Location Unknown: Date and Time Unknown.**_

"Barbara."

Her head was pounding as if she just went ten rounds with Superman. Her eyes remained shut as she winced at the pain. "What the... Where am I?" she mumbled.

"Barbara are you okay?"

As her eyes slowly opened and closed she absorbed her location with each view, she is in what seemed to be an open field within a forest. The Redhead managed to fully obtain her consciousness and saw beside her was Artemis, battered and bruised with a cut lip and blood pouring from the back of her head and tear stains running down her cheeks.

"Artemis? What did he do to you?" Barbara croaked. Artemis closed her eyes and breathed in, "I saw my worst Nightmare, He showed me my greatest failures Barbara... I tried to fight but it was no use." The Archer sniffled.

Barbara's heart sunk, she had seen Artemis defeated before but not like this.

"We're going to get out of this Artemis. Just you wait, the team will show up any second." Barbara smiled trying to instill a bit of hope into her friend.

The two girls heard a twig break and a deep, regretfully familiar voice echoed through the trees.

"Ah at last! The Bat-bitch is finally awake." Clyde beamed as he appeared from the dark forest.

"Enjoy your sleep? Don't worry, you'll remember your Nightmare any moment. My powers give quite the come down." The Man in black smirked.

"You're one twisted sack of shit, do you know that?!" Barbara bellowed. The man with the white hair let out a chuckle, "You can shout as loud as you want to darling, nobody is going to hear you. And that team of yours that you're so hopeful about, They have no clue where you are. Not even the Justice League has been able to find us." he taunted. The redhead attempted to struggle her wrists through the rope wrapped around her wrists that were tying her to her chair.

"Oh they'll find us, you can count on it and if not then I'll fuck you up myself." Artemis grumbled as her head fall backwards, looking towards the dark night sky, breathing in the fresh forest air.

"I knew my plan was cliche but holy shit I didn't expect to get the whole 'I'm a hero not a damsel in distress' talk as well. A little advice for you Barbara Gordon, I wouldn't move around in that chair too much." The Doctor advised.

"Oh yeah? Why is that grandpa?" The redhead sassed.

"Trip. Mine.", he smirked as Barbara began to sit still.

Clyde moved towards Barbara and sat on the heels of his feet, "There's a good girl, we wouldn't want that child of yours to get harmed now do we? It's my insurance after all." he goaded.

Barbara spat in the face of the evil man in front of her. The man in black stood up and struck her across the face. "Do you enjoy hitting women?" The redhead questioned as she spat blood onto the grass.

"I didn't hit a woman, 'I hit a superhero'. There's a difference." He corrected.

The blonde beside the redhead turned to her partner with a confused look, "You have a child?" she asked in between breaths.

The Doctor feigned surprise and covered his mouth with his hands, "Oh no, did she not tell you?" he mockingly asked. Barbara looked towards Artemis and then looked away, she couldn't bring herself to tell her.

"Looks like she doesn't want to share!" Clyde scoffed. He stood up and moved over to The Archer and placed his hand onto her shoulder, "It's your boyfriends my dear. She is carrying Garth's child." he revealed.

 _ **Mt Justice: Monday, 16:18**_

Garth sat on his bed with his phone in his hands. He scrolled through his pictures one after the other, showing the memories he had made with his friends. He was pondering what Dick had said to him, would everyone have really been better off if they never came across him? If they had never met him?

Probably.

But what has happened has happened, there is no changing it and there is no going back. You look on and you take one step forward. No matter how big. No matter how small. You keep moving, you progress.

That's what Garth kept telling himself anyway, but his step forward? That was going to begin on Clyde's throat.

The door into his room slid open and what stood before him was a welcome sight. M'gann stood there with a smile on her face with Conner stood behind her with his own rare smile.

"Garthy? Is it okay if we come in?" she cautiously asked.

"Of course Meg, sorry for the mess I uh got a bit mad." The Electric Man admitted. The green skinned girl looked towards the bedroom floor and saw clothes, pictures and other items scattered across the floor as if he had ran his arms across his desk and threw his items everywhere.

"It's fine Garth, honestly." she comforted as she stepped into the room avoiding anything of value with Conner following but not really paying attention as to what he was standing on.

"How are you doing?" Conner questioned.

"Bad. This fucking sucks. But who am I to say anything when you two have known Artemis and Barbara for a hell of a lot longer than I have. How are you guys holding up?" Garth asked with a pained smile.

M'gann took a seat next to Garth and pulled him into a one armed hug, placing his head on her shoulders. "I'll be honest with you Garth, like you always have with me. I'm not worried at all." she admitted.

"Megan." Conner piped up to signal she may have said the wrong thing.

"What? If this guy thinks he can mess with Artemis and Barbara, the two most badass women that I know and expect them to sit back and be the damsels in distress then he clearly doesn't know who he's messing with." The Martian announced with conviction.

The Electric Man raised his head from the aliens shoulders and smiled at her, A real smile this time and nodded, "You're absolutely right Meg; He doesn't know who he's messing with. The two of them are probably giving him hell right now." Garth stated.

"Exactly!" M'gaan smiled.

"But I'm sorry to say this, I know The Doctor and he'll be giving it back three times as hard which is why I need to be there. I'm the one man who knows how his powers work, he thought I was ignorant the entire two years I was with him. He thought I didn't realize he was watching me and my every move, so when we hit the streets I studied him. The way his powers work, the way he fights. All of it. He's fucked." The Electric Man smirked.

Conner looked at the expression on his face, it was one he knew all too well. Garth was filled with anger, he was furious. Conner laughed to himself as he used to think that he was considered to have anger problems. The Hybrid Clone looked towards the ground and picked up two pictures from the messy floor and placed them in front of Garth's view, forcing him to look at the pictures. The Electric Man smiled and took the pictures from his friends hands.

"I know that look. If you think killing this man will help anyone but yourself you are dead wrong. You're a hero Garth, don't taint that. Your child needs a good man as a father, not some murderer." Superboy advised, attempting to make Garth see reason.

"I know Conner..." He muttered in response. He knew that Conner would probably figure it out, probably with his super hearing or X-Ray vision.

"Wait... Child?! What? Who? When?" Megan yelped.

"Barbara is carrying my child. Don't tell anyone Meg, not until we get her, my baby and Artemis back." He pleaded.

"Sure, yeah. I can keep a secret." The Martian promised. Conner and Garth both gave her the same look. "What?! I can when I want too!" she announced with a sassy tone.

 _ **Location Unknown: Date and Time Unknown.**_

"I don't believe you." The Archer stated with anger, glaring at the man before her.

Clyde stepped back from the blonde haired girl and shrugged, "Come on now darling, You've seen the pictures." he quipped

Artemis paused for a moment with a furrowed brow and looked towards the floor. She refused to believe him, of course it was possible but why? Why would whatever higher power out there do this to her? Does the universe hate her that much?

"Pictures? What pictures?", Barbara stuttered. Artemis scowled at her teammate, "I know about what you did. You were supposed to be my friend Barbara when in actuality you're nothing but a cheap whore."

"Hot damn! I didn't even mess with her emotions this time!" Clyde goaded.

The Redhead ignored the asshole in a suit and tried to make Artemis see reason, "Artemis please, we were both drunk... Extremely drunk. You can blame me and hate me as much as you want but don't be mad at Garth. It was all my fault, not his." she begged. Artemis continued to scowl at her, "When we get out of this you better stay the hell away from me." she warned.

"Artemis... I..." Barbara paused her sentence as she tried to figure out what to say but she couldn't find the words to help the situation. Honestly there was nothing she could say to her best friend.

"A part of me just wants to let you two go so you can duke it out but to be honest I don't care at all about your business." The red-eyed demon smirked.

"Then why are you doing this?!" Barbara yelled and subtly wincing at the pain from her bruised cheek.

"This is where most guys like me share their master plan, right? I'm not really a believer in that cliche so you'll have to wait and see. It shouldn't be long now." The Man in Black prattled, finishing with a light chuckle.

 _ **Mt. Justice: Monday, 18:37**_

Garth grabbed his grey rucksack from his bed, zipped it up and slung it around his shoulders. He was done waiting around. He couldn't spend five more minutes locked up in this mountain, anxiously waiting for news on the situation. He reached onto his desk as he passed it and grabbed his hat from the surface, fitting it onto the top of his head. The Electric Man left his room and made his way to the zeta tube exit of the cave, not even stealthily, at this point he didn't care what people had to say.

Garth spent the next three hours circling around Gotham City, searching for any hint as to where The Doctor had taken his teammates. He found nothing. Not even a tiny scrap of evidence, he checked nearly every abandoned warehouse, every run down building and every dirty back alley... Except from that one. Crime Alley.

He knew how the mind of 'Clyde Banks' worked, he was a sarcastic and sadistic asshole who loved messing with people's heads. That was his entire shtick and what better way to mess with Garth than to end things where they started. The Dark Haired Man ran to the dark sectioned off alley as fast as his legs could take him. Bumping into civilians and almost getting hit by a few cars but he finally made it to the recently historic alley, he slowly walked down the side road investigating every nook and cranny he could for any sign of Clyde having been there.

Nothing.

Apart from the sound of footsteps.

Garth span his body around and red electricity enveloped his arms, He was ready to strike any moment.

"Woah, Wait! I'm not an enemy!", A wobbly voice cried out.

Garth looked at the figure in the dark, it was just a boy, no younger than Jaime. He looked frightened, but then again if someone is preparing to fire lightning at you from their bare hands you're bound to be terrified.

"Who are you? What do you want kid?", The Electric Man questioned, maintaining the pulsating electricity around his arms.

"Cloyster Woods. You need to go to the center of Cloyster Woods. That is where he has them held. You have to go alone, trust me." The teenager instructed. His voice sounding sincere.

"What are you? Some kind of messenger for Clyde?", Garth questioned.

"I'm nothing of the sort, believe me. Now go and save Barbara and Artemis. Go! Now!", he beckoned.

Garth was confused, if this boy wasn't with Clyde then who is he? Weirdly Garth felt a connection to him, he felt like he could trust him. "What's your name?" The Dark Haired Man questioned.

The boy mumbled to himself so that Garth couldn't hear him, "I guess it couldn't hurt for you to know..."

"Kitt. My name is Kitt." He proclaimed to Garth before quickly disappearing into the dark corners of Gotham City.

Garth made sure to remember the name, If he was telling the truth about where Artemis and Barbara are being held then he owes that boy a favor.

 _ **Cloyster Woods: Monday, Time Unknown.**_

Her gaze grew blurry and her eyes weighed heavy. The freezing cold biting into her under dressed body. The Archer had lost a lot of blood since she was bound to the chair in the dark night. She could hear a feint voice repeat her name, it grated her ears as if she didn't want to hear it, she just wanted to sleep. As her eyes fell to a close the voice grew louder, she began to focus on it, trying to understand what it was saying.

"Art-Is-Ba-Ar-Tay-Ith-E"

She forced her eyes open and looked beside her. She focused hard through her blurry vision and saw that the redhead was in the same situation, she looked completely out of it, trying to fight off whatever effect was happening to her. A loud bang assaulted her ear-drums and a flash of light harassed her sight even more, as if an explosion happened right in front of her.

A couple of moments passed and Artemis shook off the effect from the flash of light. She squinted her eyes to see the white-haired man's back facing her and figure standing near ten feet in front of him. The other man had a larger, unscuplted figure as if he was wearing loose fitting clothes but what really stood out to her was the bright red flashes of light that kept appearing on both sides of him.


	16. Chapter 16: Full Circle

**Chapter 16: Full Circle**

 _ **Cloyster Woods: Monday, 22:18**_

Rogue twigs slashed across his body as he ran through the dense forest, the mud splattered across his clothes as his heavy steps stomped into the wet ground. He had no idea if he was going in the right direction, as far as he knew he was heading straight towards the center. According to an aerial image of the woods he saw on his phone there is an open field with a view of all directions. That's where Clyde would be. That's where he had to be. He likes to make a show of things, and its not like he's hiding from Garth so the Electric Man was banking on The Doctor being an asshole. A flawless plan.

The classic Gotham weather had made it's way towards the dense woods, rain began to pour all throughout the nearby area. The sound it made as it continually clashed into the leaves was a thundering one, Garth couldn't even hear his heavy footsteps break the sticks beneath his feet.

A flash of light appeared ahead of Garth. Lightning had struck the woods and an orange glow appeared far across his eyesight, fortunately the orange glow had lit up what appeared to be an open space. Garth had found them.

A few moments later he stepped out of the dark woods and into the open field. He saw Artemis and Barbara unconscious on some old wooden chairs and before them stood The Doctor, Garth's old partner. Could he really call him a 'partner' after everything he had done to him?

His speed picked up, his legs began to carry him towards his destination as fast as they could take him. He wanted to end this as quickly as he could, one quick strike of electricity straight to the heart of this monster and get Artemis and Barbara out of the burning woods as quickly as possible.

Garth was almost at a suitable range, his red lightning began to envelope his arms. More so than it ever had before.

"Artemis, Barbara! Stay with me!" He beckoned.

He took one more step and the world slowed down. Adrenaline had kicked into his system. He could see the facial expression of Clyde change, as if he was about to make some snide comment. He could see the cold breath escape from Artemis' silk mouth. He could see a raindrop fall down Barbara's soft cheek.

He could see a flash of yellow envelope his gaze. Garth's stomach tightened and a cold shiver ran down his spine. The world began to speed up and the red lightning from his arms missed it's target and fired off into the dark woods. The Electric Man collapsed onto the floor and began to take quick short breaths as he trembled to the ground, becoming unable to stand on his quaking feet.

"My my, feeling a bit afraid are we?" Clyde snided.

Garth moved his head from the wet, muddy grass and looked up towards the man in black. Garth tried to speak but his voice trembled, he was terrified.

Clyde let out a chuckle, took a step back and booted the side of Garth's head making it snap to the right and recoil back onto the ground with a light thud sound. his head felt as if it was spinning.

The Doctor took hold of the collar of Garth's black jacket and raised him up from the ground. "You really are a disappointment. D'you know that?" he whispered in disgust as he grasped the neck of his shirt and struck Garth's right cheek with his closed fist over and over until he re-opened the deep scar on his cheek, then throwing him back to the ground.

"After all my Project did for you. It was all in fuckin' vain wasn't it? You were given the powers of a god and you use it to fight petty criminals and 'super villains'... Pathetic!" The Man in Black shouted as the heavy rain wiped Garth's splattered blood from his face.

Garth didn't reply, he instead attempted to raise himself from the ground. Clyde brought his boot into Garth's stomach this time, giving the young hero an even harder time to breath.

"I heard you took up the name 'Indra' as your second 'superhero' identity. I knew you by that name many years ago, In fact I gave it to you. This was, of course, back when you was a little child with the weak little power of a taser... You're welcome for the upgrade you little prick." He grunted towards the battered and bruised hero beneath him.

The Electric Man managed to control his breathing as his raised himself to his knees, "What the hell are you talking about? You screw-loose son of a bitch." Garth retaliated as hit spat blood at his foe.

Clyde watched the red liquid land in front of his feet and slowly turned his gaze back towards Garth.

"Oh come on now, Don't act like that 'Nightwing' didn't tell you everything about your mum..." he snapped.

"I know enough. You were experimenting on me and she saved me! You experimented on children you sick, vile human being." The young hero screamed.

"Don't you dare make out that I tortured children. It was humane, I was furthering human evolution like countless others before me. You children were supposed to be the next generation humankind. I was helping the good fight! And then your slag heap of a mother brought my Project down to ashes... She is the real monster... Not. Me." The white-haired monster seethed as he kneeled down towards Garth.

"One bit of good came out of it however. A chance for it all to be worth it..." He whispered. "I rediscovered my prized candidate. My strongest child who's power was off the charts. It was only fitting you were name after a god, 'The thunder wielding god, Indra', Only this time he wouldn't be the kind and benevolent god. He would strike fear into his enemies. If only I can get rid of what is holding you back Garth, you and me can finally begin to start making this world what it should be... Free from pain and suffering and the tyrannical reign of Governments and these stupidly worshiped 'Heroes' of the Justice League." Clyde beckoned over the heavy rain.

"You honestly believe the shit you are spouting? If you knew anything about me then you'd know that I would never become a weapon. By the sounds of it you were just some nutcase scientist with funding, like Luthor and 'Brain'. Only they both actually have one of those, unlike your dumb ass." Garth chuckled underneath the mud and blood that covered his lower face.

"You would never become my weapon? Tell me Garth, what did you think you was for the past two years? You attacked the targets I told you to attack, you hurt the people I told you to hurt. You really are ignorant. I think it's about time you finally become what you were created to b Indra... It's time you have nothing to hold you back." Clyde snarled as he walked over to the girls sat in the rain.

The Electric Man noticed Clyde reach into his pockets and place something into his right hand. A slim outline grew from the hand of The Doctor's silhouette as he pulled out a small, basic switchblade. The closer he moved towards Barbara and Artemis, the more frightened he became. Whatever Clyde had done to Garth's emotions were taking it's toll on Garth, He could barely stand as he cowered into dirt.

But he had to stand. His fear of loss overcame his manufactured fear of The Doctor. Garth slowly raised himself from the puddle of mud he had been lying in, He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he waited for lightning to strike once more.

Without turning to face Garth, Clyde shouted towards him, "You're wasting your time. By the time you get to me their throats will already be slit!" He cackled over the thundering noise of the rain.

What Garth was waiting for finally happened. A flash of light appeared in the sky, followed by a roar from the heavens. The lightning was barreling down towards the ground, half a mile or so away. The Electric Man raised his arms towards the flashing sky and pulled the lightning down towards him.

A crashing bang bellowed across the area as the white lightning crackled around Indra's person.

With a shocked and frightened expression The Doctor slowly turned around to see Indra hovering above the ground, preparing to unleash god's fury upon him.

"Yes! You've finally become what you were meant to be! You have finally become my weap-" The joyous voice was cut off.

Indra released all of the pent up lightning he had collected and hurled it towards Clyde Banks.

He gave a huge shriek feeling pain like no other. Justice from the children he had harmed.

Clyde Banks was nothing more than ash. He had been disintegrated... Garth had killed once more.

 _ **Four days later...**_

Artemis sat beside Garth's bed in The Watchtower's med-bay. The Justice League took it upon themselves that all three of the young heroes had the best medical attention possible, Barbara Gordon especially. Artemis was discharged yesterday, a few broken bones and some heavy bruising but she was mostly okay. Black Canary however decided she's going to need therapy after what she had been through, the Archer however finds it funny. After everything she has been through in her life, Black Canary honestly thinks that a basic kidnapping pushes her over the line for therapy. Please.

As Artemis sat in the chair beside Garth's bed she heard a knock against the door frame. She didn't turn to face the person knocking, her eyes remained on the man she loves, "You don't need to knock Dick."

"How is he?" Nightwing questioned.

"Same as before. Weak pulse, weak breathing... probably Brai-" Artemis began to choke up "Brain... Brain damage." she grudgingly finished.

Dick grabbed the box of tissues from the tray at the end of Garth's bed and handed them to her, he then pulled a spare chair from beside the doorway and sat next to his friend.

"Did they say how bad?" He mumbled.

"If by some divine intervention he is lucky then he'll just have amnesia. At worst? They told me that he might..." Artemis' effort to hold back the waterfall of tears is all in vain as they began to roll down her face in force "... I don't even want to think about it Dick" she bawled.

A pained frown appeared underneath Dick's mask as he saw the backbone of the original team break down in front of him. He could only imagine how she feels. She falls in love only to be abandoned by her lover when they finally take their first steps in their relationship, she spends two years being hung up on a man who would rather avenge the dead than love the living. Fastfoward to his return and he acts like nothing happened, he pretends like his actions had no effect on her. he ignores the pain he caused her... Only to cause her more pain again, just as they begin their relationship one more time. Dick no longer had any respect for Garth, what kind of man does that? Sure Garth has always treated everyone as if they are his family but Dick just couldn't understand Garth's thought process when making his life choices. What an idiot.

"Artemis... What are you going to do?" He earnestly asks.

The Archer grabs another tissue and wipes her eyes, turning to look at her friend "What do you mean?"

"When he wakes up what are you going to do?" He asks again, this time with a more serious tone.

Her gaze turns back to the man laying unconscious in the white bed. "I'm going to tell him how I feel. About everything he has done. Even if he doesn't remember me." She explains.

Dick places a hand on her shoulder and nods to her with an understanding smile, "Everything will work out how you want it to Artemis. Life owes you that much."

Artemis places her opposite hand onto her friends armoured gloves, giving him a pained smile and nodding back. Dick moves towards the exit of the room when Artemis calls over to him, "Dick, Wait."

"Barbara is fine, she is awake and the baby is healthy. I'll let her know that you asked about her." He comforted.

"Thank you..." She mumbles.

 _ **Two days later...**_

His eyes slowly open, retreating a few times as the bright lights of the room harass his eyes. His head feels rough and heavy, his vision blurred. It takes a few moments for his body to adjust upon awakening from his long slumber, he always was fairly lazy but he couldn't say he had this long a lie in before.

"Garth?" a muffled, yet familiar voice beckons in shock to him but he couldn't quite pin the voice to its owner.

He looked around the room, his vision slowly returning back to normal. He noticed a series of "Get well soon!" cards at the tray above his feet and vase's filled with flowers scattered across the room, he smiled at the beautiful colours.

"Garth?" the voice once again called out to him.

He turns beside him to see the outline of a person beside him.

"You're finally awake..." it croaked.

His vision slowly focused onto the person sat beside him, showing the features of the beautiful blonde beside him. She had stunning golden hair that reached down to her shoulders, beautiful eyes that glistened from underneath the tears and her lips... They looked so soft.

The expression that she looked at him with, he couldn't explain what it was even if he wanted to, it was filled with pain, hurt, doubt, happiness, joy.

A confused expression appeared on his face, he took a moment to think. To collect his thoughts, Artemis waited with baited breath waiting for him to speak.

"Amelia?" He replied.

Her breath escapes her.

Do you want to know the word that truly sums up her expression? The word that truly explains how she feels?

Anguish.

The End.

 **Authors Note: Thank you all for reading up till this point I really appreciate it guys! And by the way** **I am currently working on Part Three so keep an eye out for that.**

 **One more thing, "Kitt" wasn't just a thrown in deus ex machina. He has a key role in a spinoff/sequel story I'm planning that links back into this one and maybe he'll be in Part Three... Who knows?**

 **Again, I hope you have enjoyed 'Electric: Part Two' and I hope it was better than the story before it. Much love guys and girls!**


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